Ebola: 59 On Surveillance, Two Quarantined …Anambra Indigene’s Corpse From Liberia Causes Fear

The Federal Government has placed 69 persons, who had first contact with the Liberian-born victim of  Ebola Virus, Patrick Sawyer, on surveillance, while two persons have been quarantined (isolated), the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, has said.
Sawyer died in a Lagos hospital on Friday last week.
Chukwu debunked reports that the government had closed its borders, saying such move might not be taken “except when it becomes necessary.”
According to him, those who came in contact with the late sawyer will be under surveillance for a period of weeks from the date of contact in line with the specifications of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The minister at a joint press briefing with the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, yesterday on the update of the virus, said the Liberian victim, with dual citizenship of Liberia and the United States, was confirmed dead barely four days after arrival in Nigeria.
He said, “We decided on the proper manner on how to dispose his body because the corpse of any victim of Ebola disease is very toxic. The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control decontaminated the body. We are tracking all those, who had primary contact with him. As of today, 69 persons have been placed under surveillance while two persons have been quarantined.
“All those in the same aircraft going to attend the meeting with him in Calabar are presently under surveillance. They will remain under this surveillance until a period of three weeks from the date of contact.
“We have a copy of the passengers’ manifest and we discovered that the sitting arrangement was free sitting. We are working with the airlines to track down those other passengers yet to be identified.
“As a Federal Government policy, we have not closed our borders, unless it becomes necessary. But the Aviation Minister is working with us in many aspects to make sure that the virus does not spread.”
Chukwu stated that contrary to some views, the disease “can be contacted on air even while airborne once you contact the droplets.”
The minister said government was engaging the states right from the moment that the disease was first reported in Guinea.
He added, “Our rapid response team is in Lagos. Nigeria has been commended by WHO. Secondary contacts are also important. We are working with the Cross River State Government. We are not going to quarantine them but we have demanded their contact details.”
Chukwu commended the hospital, where the patient was managed, saying, “We commend them for the great job they have done. They did everything to keep the man alive but unfortunately, he passed on. We have ordered the closure of the hospital. The doctors are under surveillance; we are using WHO certified personal protective equipment.
“Doctors are at high risk but Nigerians should not panic,” he said.
Meanwhile, the head of the World Health Organisation and leaders of West African nations affected by the Ebola outbreak are to announce a joint $100million (£59million; 75million euro) response plan.
They will meet in Guinea on Friday to launch the initiative aimed at tackling a virus which has claimed 729 lives.
Sierra Leone’s president has declared a public health emergency over the outbreak after 233 people died there.
Ebola spreads through human contact with a sufferer’s bodily fluids.
Initial flu-like symptoms can lead to external haemorrhaging from areas like eyes and gums, and internal bleeding which can lead to organ failure.
Ebola kills up to 90 per cent of those infected with patients having a better chance of survival if they receive early treatment.
Meanwhile, the Anambra State Ministry of Health has announced that there are fears in the state that the dreaded Ebola disease may have penetrated the state through a corpse deposited in Apex Mortuary, Nkwelle Ezunaka, Oyi LGA at the weekend.
The State Commissioner for Health, Joe Akabuike, while addressing journalists yesterday said that the development in Anambra is an urgent one, and that the state government, the Ministry of Health in the state and the Federal Ministry of Health were handling the situation with the urgency it requires.
“Why we called you(Journalists) here is because of the dreaded Ebola disease. In the suspected case that happened in Lagos recently, the victim is already gone, and all those who had contact with him have been tested, and they tested negative.
“Here in Anambra, the urgency I told you is that we have the case of a corpse that was brought in from Lagos at the weekend. The deceased was said to have taken ill in Liberia where the virus is known to have already existed, where he died and was deposited in a mortuary.
“We have identified the mortuary where the corpse was deposited, and we have alerted the Federal Ministry to come in and carry out a test. we have sealed off the mortuary, and everyone who is working there, we have ordered that they be quarantined.
“As I speak with you, experts from the Federal Ministry of Health are on their way to Anambra. What we will do is that those people that are quarantined will be screened, and we want to assure Anambra people that we shall be proactive to ensure that the virus does not spread.
“We have also procured the necessary garment for the disease check, and we are training our health workers on how to deal with this because it is new here. We had to invite the Federal Ministry of Health because the equipment for the check are very expensive.
“We are not saying that this corpse has Ebola virus, but the deceased was brought in from Liberia, and deposited in the state, so we have to raise eyebrow about it. All we are doing is to take precaution,” the health Commissioner said.
Akabuike disclosed that the disease wass a big threat because doctors, nurses and relatives of a patient who may touch the victim were liable to contact it, and that when doctors begin to die in droves, it spells doom for a country.
He advised that people must form the habit of washing their hands not only when they want to eat, but after shaking hands or touching surfaces.
Akabuike expressed shock that a corpse could be flown from another country to Nigeria, without being intercepted at the airport for a check. He also disclosed that the state has secured a quarantine site that will help the ministry to seclude suspects from the people until they are checked.
Similarly, the Anambra State Commissioner of Health, Dr. Josephat Akabuike, announced on Thursday that a hospital has been sealed off and its workers and patients quarantined due to Ebola disease scare.
Briefing journalists in Awka, Akabuike said the measure followed information received by the government that a man whose body was brought back from Liberia at the weekend might have died of the killer disease.
He said that information available to the government indicated that the body was brought back from Liberia through Lagos and deposited in the mortuary at Nkwelle-Ezenaka in Oyi Local Government Area of the state.
He said: “Part of the briefing is to tell you what we are doing to make sure we don’t allow the deadly virus to come into the state.
“What actually called for this is that we have a report that a corpse was brought through Lagos and the deceased was said to have been taken from Liberia where of course you know there are cases of the disease.
“The corpse was said to have been brought to Nigeria and deposited somewhere in Nkwelle-Ezunaka and the ministry was alerted and that is why we are taking all these measures.”
The commissioner said that Governor Willie Obiano had already directed the Police Command in the state to cordon off the place until the necessary tests were carried out.
Akabuike further said that Federal Government had also sent medical experts from the Federal Ministry of Health, Abuja to Anambra State to carry out the test at the hospital premises.
Meanwhile, Ebola has been blamed for 672 deaths in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, according to the World Health Organisation.
Sierra Leone has declared a state of emergency and called in troops to quarantine epicentres of Ebola, joining Liberia in imposing tough controls to curb the worst ever outbreak of the virus amid fears it could spread beyond West Africa.
A Liberian man was confirmed to have died from the virus in Lagos last Friday.
In a measure of rising international concern, Britain on Wednesday held a government meeting on Ebola, which it said was a threat it needed to respond to.
The outbreak of the haemorrhagic fever, for which there is no known cure, began in the forests of remote eastern Guinea in February, but Sierra Leone now has the highest number of cases.

L-R:Assistant Director, Legal Services, 2 Div., Col. Musa Muhammed, G.O.C, 2 Div., Maj-Gen. Emmanuel Abejirin and Chief of Staff to the G.O.C., Brig.-Gen. Johnson Oladeinde, at the inauguration of General Court Martial in Ibadan, last Wednesday