Fear over the likely resurgence of the dreaded
Ebola in Nigeria has continued to mount as the number of suspected cases in the
Democratic Republic of Congo rises to almost 30.
The virus disease, which
ravaged West African countries including Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria and
others three years ago, was confirmed in a remote northern area of the DRC by the
World Health Organisation last week.
Already, three deaths have been declared while more
than 20 cases have also been reported in the country's Bas Uele Province close
to border with the Central African Republic.
Upon noticing a cluster of
unexplained illnesses and death on May 9, with many of the cases reporting symptoms
of bleeding, WHO officials swung into action.
That proactive manner did not
come on its own accord but on account of criticisms that the United Nations
organisation was slow to act when Ebola came calling in 2014.
And with lab
tests soon confirming it was Ebola, the DRC Ministry of Health officially
declared an outbreak of the virus on May 11.
At the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Yaba which
served as the centre for the containment of Ebola in Nigeria back in 2014, renovations
are currently going on as Nigerians health officials nationwide are trying to
steel themselves for what they hope would not become another testy and largely
draining period.
In spite of most of the makeshift measures put in
place at the onset of the Ebola outbreak, sparked in Nigeria by the infamous Liberian-American,
Patrick Sawyer, no longer in place, a top official who pleaded anonymity told Saturday Telegraph it is not an indication
that they have gone to sleep.
“‘Once bitten, twice shy’ is the popular maxim but
among Nigerian health officials around, even beyond Lagos State, it is a case
of being constantly on the alert even when no recurrence has been recorded in
DRC,” the official began.
Speaking further, he said “Now that another Ebola
outbreak has been declared in DRC, it is down to us all to be ready to respond
to is in a decisive manner. But as far as this centre is concerned, we are
fully ready to contain it once more and you can be sure we know a lot more
about the disease now than the last time.”
As many patients sit and await their turns to be
diagnosed and treated at the facility, one can only wonder if thoughts of the
place being the Ebola centre that consumed Dr. Ameyo Stella Adadevoh and others
back in 2014 ever crossed their minds.
As things stand in the midst of the chaos Ebola
has brought back in the DRC, the immediate priority is to trace the 400 plus
contacts of the suspected Ebola cases. With that in itself a daunting task,
experts say the focus is on surveillance, getting the best information on the
suspected cases, diagnosing people who have come in contact with an infected
person among others.
Another junior official at the centre located inside
the Mainland Hospital in Yaba, Lagos told our correspondent that the wholesale
renovation of facilities going on at the centre was not initiated with Ebola in
mind. “But if that is what the improvement of facilities at this centre will work
for at this present time, I am sure it won’t be a wasted effort,” he said.
Efforts to reach Lagos State’s epidemiologist, Dr
Ismail Abdusalam, were not successful as he did not respond to calls to his
line. He had also not responded to a text message sent to him on the issue.
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