The corpse of a suspected victim of Ebola virus which was brought into Anambra State from Liberia, has thrown the state into confusion and panic.
The state government, which expressed shock over the incident, has sent emissaries to the Federal Government for immediate assistance.
The lid on the arrival of the corpse of a yet-to-be named Anambra native was blown open when a resident of Nkwelle Ezunaka in Oyi Local Government Area rushed to inform the state government that a dead body had been secretly brought to the community from Liberia where the Ebola virus had killed hundreds.
Nigerian Pilot learnt that the corpse was brought into Nigeria as cargo and was taken straight to Apex Hospital and Mortuary at Nkwelle Ezunaka by his relatives, waiting burial.
As soon as the news got to the state government, officials of the Ministry of Health were promptly drafted to the hospital while security operatives were ordered to cordon off the mortuary where the body was deposited, pending investigations by experts from the Federal Ministry of Health.
According to sources, “somebody from the community who knew that the man died in Liberia where there have been rampant deaths caused by Ebola disease, informed the Anambra State Governor, Chief Willie Obiano.” The governor immediately directed the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Josephat Akabike, to take action.
Addressing newsmen in Awka, the state capital yesterday, Akabike said though it had not been confirmed that the man died of the Ebola disease, “there is need for precautionary measures to be taken.”
Akabike said: “We have already contacted the Federal Ministry of Health and we are expecting them to arrive in the state any time from now. We have sealed the mortuary and the hospital and all the corpses and the people working there have been quarantined.
“We are surprised how the corpse came into Nigeria and Anambra State. It is shocking to us. We have directed the police to cordon off the area. Ebola is a very big threat and that is why we are taking all the measures.”
He continued: “We are also making efforts to locate the family of the dead man to know their level of contact with the dead body when it arrived in the country and everybody who had visited the mortuary will also be quarantined.”
The commissioner confirmed that the information on the presence of the deceased was brought by somebody who was abreast with the Ebola outbreak, adding that the ministry had assembled its health team and got all the preventive materials ready.
Meanwhile, Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, has disclosed that soon after the demise of the first Liberian Ebola disease victim in Lagos, the Federal Government tracked the primary contacts and quarantined two of them and put 69 under surveillance.
Chukwu disclosure this yesterday in Abuja at a press conference on the update on the Ebola virus in Nigeria.
He explained that after the death of the Liberian Ebola victim, Patrick Sawyer in Lagos, government decided to track all those who had contact with him when he arrived in Nigeria and had quarantined two contacts while others are under surveillance for about three weeks from the date.
The Minster said that government had sent the alert to all states of the federation on the disease, adding that health personnel were being trained on Ebola prevention and management.
The minister stated that government had not closed its borders but “we are still screening people coming into the country en route air, land and sea transports.”
Chukwu stressed that, “We are pushing frontiers of communication; subscribers will begin to get information on their phones toll free to know about what is happening on Ebola.”
Also at the briefing, the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, assured Nigerians that there was no new case of the disease in the country. He said the government was reaching out to people by sensitising them on personal and environmental hygiene and how to avoid the spread of Ebola.
Maku further enjoined Nigerians to stick to personal and environmental hygiene to check the spread of the disease.
WHO, W/African leaders to launch $100m fund
As a response to the Ebola virus scourge, leaders of West African countries affected by the disease are to meet with the Director-General of the World Health Organisation today in Guinea, to launch a new joint $100 million response plan as part of an intensified international, regional and national campaign to bring the outbreak under control.
In a statement signed yesterday by the Director-General of the World Health Organisation, Dr. Margaret Chan, she said: “The scale of the Ebola outbreak, and the persistent threat it poses, requires WHO and Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to take the response to a new level, and this will require increased resources, in-country medical expertise, regional preparedness and coordination.”
According to her, the Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak Response Plan in West Africa identifies the need for several hundred more personnel to be deployed in affected countries to supplement overstretched treatment facilities. Hundreds of international aid workers, as well as 120-plus WHO members of staff, are already supporting national and regional response efforts.
Chan said with the unprecedented scale of the ongoing outbreak, and with approximately 1,323 confirmed and suspected cases reported, and 729 deaths in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since March 2014, more efforts were urgently required.
Source: Nigerian Pilot
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