Ebola: RSG Partners US Agency On Disease Control …Nigerian Quarantined In Hong Kong Tests Negative …As Canadian Returning From Nigeria Shows Symptoms

In a bid to tackle the menace of Ebola disease, the Rivers State Government says it has begun talks with Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and the Emory University in the United States.
The CDC and Emory University in the US are the health facilities in which the two foreign medical missionaries who contracted Ebola in Liberia are being treated.
The Rivers State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Sampson Parker, in a statement at the weekend, called on the people to remain calm as there is no reported case of the disease in the state.
He said, “discussions with these international reputable agencies and institutions have been very encouraging and our people shall soon see the benefits.”
Already, he disclosed that the state government has provided personnel of the ministry with the necessary materials needed to combat the deadly virus.
“Governor Chibuike Amaechi has given us everything we need to fight the Ebola virus in Rivers State and has also assured me that should we need more personnel and materials, the state would provide,” the commissioner further stated.
Parker urged the citizenry to exhibit high sense of personal hygiene by washing their hands with soap and water regularly, avoid eating uncooked meat, and handle raw meat and rodents with care.
Meanwhile, Dr. Sampson Parker has flaked former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives,  Austin Opara over a statement credited to him to the effect that the state government was not doing anything to check the deadly Ebola virus in the state.
Parker described Opara’s claim as, “reckless, irresponsible and unfortunate”.
He added, “I realize that this a political season, but we as leaders must be responsible in our utterances so as not to cause unnecessary panic in our people.”
Meanwhile, a Nigerian man who was quarantined after he showed Ebola-like symptoms while travelling to Hong Kong has tested negative for the deadly virus.
The southern Chinese city government said in a statement late yesterday that the man, 32, had “tested negative for Ebola virus upon preliminary laboratory testing”.
“In the past one month… he had no contact history with sick persons or animals and did not visit health-care facilities. He is currently in stable condition,” a government spokesman said in the statement.
The man arrived in Hong Kong from Lagos, Nigeria’s most populous city, via Dubai on Thursday and was hospitalized Sunday after vomiting and having diarrhoea.
Concerns are growing over the potential spread of the disease which has claimed nearly 1,000 lives in West Africa this year.
Hong Kong, a densely populated city of some seven million people, is particularly alert to the spread of viruses after Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome killed almost 300 people eleven years ago.
On July 30 the Hong Kong government said it would quarantine as a precaution all people from Ebola infected areas who showed any symptom of the disease such as fever, vomiting or diarrhoea.
Last week a woman who showed Ebola-like symptoms after returning from a holiday in Kenya tested negative for the virus.
Nigeria along with Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia has been hardest hit by the latest epidemic, which the WHO has called the worst outbreak of its kind in four decades.
Nigeria — the most populous nation in Africa — confirmed two new cases Friday of the often fatal hemorrhagic disease, bringing the total number of infections to nine, including two deaths.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the epidemic an international health emergency, as countries scramble to impose measures to prevent any spread of a contagion that has claimed almost 1,000 lives.
Similary, a Canadian who recently visited Nigeria is being held in isolation at Brampton Civic Hospital in Ontario for showing symptoms of the Ebola Virus Disease.
According to a Canadian public health official, the patient was reported to be showing initial symptoms of Ebola which were similar to more common diseases, such as malaria.
Dr. Eileen de Villa of Peel Public Health said that “infection prevention and control measures” had been put in place at the hospital because a patient “with a recent travel history to Nigeria” had shown symptoms similar to the Ebola fever and other flu-like symptoms.
Dr. de Villa said she received information from her colleagues at Brampton Civic Hospital and representatives from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.
She added that the hospital would be working with public health laboratories to confirm a diagnosis.
“Any subsequent actions will of course depend on what the ultimate diagnosis is,” she said.
The Public Health Agency of Canada has advised Canadians to avoid all non-essential travel to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone due to the outbreak, but issued a statement, saying the risk of Ebola to Canada is very low.
It said travellers to Nigeria should practise special precautions such as avoiding direct contact with blood and other bodily fluids of people with Ebola virus or unknown illnesses, among other steps.
According to a statement issued by Canada’s Minister of International Development, Christian Paradis, the country is offering additional support to help fight the growing EVD outbreak in West Africa.
Paradis said, “Canada is gravely concerned by the rapidly expanding Ebola outbreak in West Africa and the impact it is having on the families in the region as well as the health care workers on the ground assisting them.
“Our thoughts remain with all of those affected. Through both funding and personnel, Canada will continue to help get aid to those who need it as quickly as possible.”

Representative of the Rivers State Governor and Deputy Governor, Engr Tele Ikuru (2nd right), Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Chuma C. Chinye (right) and Commissioner for Special Duties, Barrister Dickson Umunnakwe, at the empowerment ceremony at Delta Hotel in Port Harcourt, last Friday