Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, on Monday, September 1 announced that 271 people suspected to have contracted the Ebola virus were under surveillance in Lagos and Port Harcourt.
Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu
The Minister who the suspected Ebola victims as at Sunday were placed under surveillance
made this known in Abuja at the second emergency National Council on
Health meeting on Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in Nigeria.
He said that 72 persons were under surveillance in Lagos and 199 in Port Harcourt.
Chukwu said: “There is nobody under surveillance in Enugu now and no
case of EVD in Enugu State. As at Aug. 31, 278 contacts in Lagos state
have completed the 21-day surveillance, and have been discharged.
“In Enugu, all the six identified contacts have completed the 21-day observation period and have been discharged,’’ he said.
The minister said that it was expected that a few more contacts could
develop the EVD, especially in River state, before Nigeria could see
the last case of the disease.
Chukwu explained that the strategies for containing the disease in
the country were focused on appropriate information, education,
communication and sustenance of the surveillance systems.
He also mentioned reduction in harmful practices that promote the
spread of the virus, provision of adequate care for confirmed cases and
active contact tracing as strategies for containing the deadly virus.
Chukwu said the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) had
received approval for the re-production of copies of the protocols and
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for management of Ebola cases.
He said that the approval also included protocols for submitting
samples to the laboratories and burying of victims of the disease.
He disclosed that Ebola virus could be diagnosed in five states in
the country and Abuja and listed the states as Lagos, Oyo, Edo, Ogun and
Rivers.
Chukwu said that the ministry had planned to procure additional mobile laboratories for Abakaliki, Port Harcourt, Bauchi, Jos and Sokoto.
He added that the ministry had also proposed a special fund to
support affected private hospitals that complied with the policy of
seeing all patients and reported suspected cases.
“The three confirmed cases not treated in Lagos comprise a
surviving primary contact of the index case (Patrick Sawyer), an ECOWAS
Commission staff; a private medical practitioner and a female patient.
“An ECOWAS Commission staff who became symptomatic, evaded
surveillance in Lagos, travelled to Port Harcourt and infected his
attending physician,’’ he said.
Chukwu said that the number of Ebola virus cases in the country was
16, adding that number of cases treated in the isolation centre in Lagos
was 13 while number discharged was seven.
He said that total number of deaths among those treated in Lagos was
five while those still receiving treatment in Lagos were two.
Meanwhile a new Ebola virus case in Portharcourt
was reported today of a female doctor who was on admission at the Green
Hart hospital where late Port Harcourt doctor, Iyke Enemoah, was
treated after he got infected with the deadly virus by an ECOWAS
official, has tested positive to Ebola.
On Thursday, August 28, Health Minister, Onyebuchi Chukwu confirmed the first recorded death from Ebola in Portharcourt.
Late
Dr. Iyke Enemou, who treated ECOWAS diplomat Olu Koye who was already
infected with the Ebola Virus Disease died on August 22 in Port Harcourt after his health got worse.
Meanwhile it was reported, yesterday, that
ECOWAS diplomat Olu Koye who was already infected with the Ebola Virus
Disease may face manslaughter charges for fleeing to Portharcourt and
spreading the deadly disease.
According to World Health Organization,WHO, the Ebola outbreak is the
worst ever, as it has reported more than 1,550 cases of people infected
with the deadly disease
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