MINISTER of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, on Monday, said 271
people suspected to have contracted the Ebola virus were, as of Sunday,
under surveillance in Lagos and Port Harcourt.
This came as two out of the three contacts isolated and being treated in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, were confirmed negative to the virus.
Chukwu made this known to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, at the second emergency National Council on Health meeting on Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in Nigeria.
He said 72 persons were under surveillance in Lagos and 199 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
“There is nobody under surveillance in Enugu now and no case of Ebola in Enugu State.
“As of August 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 it was expected that a few more contacts could develop the Ebola virus, especially in Rivers State, before Nigeria could see the last case of the disease.
He explained that the strategies for containing the disease in the country were focused on appropriate information, education, communication and sustenance of the surveillance systems.
Other strategies, according to him, were reduction in harmful practices that promoted the spread of the virus, provision of adequate care for confirmed cases and active contact tracing.
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 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 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.
“Mr Atedo Peterside’s ANAP Foundation is supporting affected private hospitals that complied with the policy of seeing all patients and reported suspected cases of Ebola virus with N100,000 per bed space per day.
“Already, First Consultant Hospital in Lagos has benefitted under this scheme to the tune of N8 million,” he said.
Chukwu said 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 seven were discharged.
He confirmed that total number of deaths among those treated in Lagos was five, while those still receiving treatment in Lagos were two.
“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.
Also speaking, Dr Somieari Isaac-Harry, the Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Health, said out of the three contacts isolated and being treated in Port Harcourt, two had been confirmed negative.
He said the result of the third person was being awaited, adding that the state government had developed a disease surveillance notification system in all the 23 local government areas.
Meanwhile, the minister, while clarifying the opening speech he delivered earlier in the morning at the emergency meeting of the National Council on Health at the Barcelona Hotel, Abuja, where he gave the total number of EVD cases as 16, said one more person in Lagos had contracted the Ebola virus.
Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu confirmed this on Monday evening. This means Lagos currently has two Ebola patients, one addition to the only one announced on August 26.
Lagos receives N200m from FG •MTN donates protective equipment
By Moyosore Solarin -Lagos
TO battle the Ebola Virus Disease scourge in Nigeria, the Lagos State government has confirmed receipt of N200 million from the Federal Government.
The state governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola, who made this known on Monday, at the Government House, Ikeja, when MTN Nigeria came to donate protective equipment in support of the war against Ebola, also allayed the fears of Nigerians over the disease, as, according to him, efforts from various quarters had brought the virus under control.
He said efforts made so far by the state government as well as response from the Rivers State government would be definitive on containing the virus in the two urban centres.
Lauding MTN’s gesture, the governor said “on behalf of the Lagos State government, we want to thank you for the public spirited gesture.
“This clearly has been the tradition which we have come to associate your brand with and especially in matters on health and education issues.”
He added that both the government and general public had benefited from the telecoms giant, through partnership with the state government in education and provision of dialysis machine at health facilities.
Commending health workers who had been risking their lives to save Ebola victims, Fashola said “they stood up to be counted when there was dire need, when there was fear, even at the highest levels of government.”
The governor, however, said “the real problem is the sufficiency of experienced virologists and Ebola specialist.
“As at this time, it isn’t really an equipment problem. It is a human capacity problem.”
Earlier, chairman MTN Nigeria, Dr Pascal Dozie, had said “we are here to express our appreciation and lend our support.
We had already started supporting the cause by providing call centres, that is the Ebola hotline, where doctors are responding to enquiries and findings.
“Today, we have come to provide in support a fairly reasonable quantum of personal protective items, both for the care givers and other health workers.”
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