Minister of Health Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu has said the nation is not completely free from the thorns of Ebola Virus Disease. Following the death of a Port Harcourt based Doctor last friday, the Chukwu Thursday, confirmed fresh case of the EVD outbreak in the State.
The Late Doctor was reported to have treated a primary contact of. Late Mr. Sawyer who evaded the FG's surveillance team in July by traveling out of Lagos to Portharcourt.
The Health Minister disclosed this this morning in Abuja while briefing newsmen on the update of Eboa Virus Disease (EVD) in the country. Chukwu said the late doctor's wife who now displayed symptoms has also been placed on quarantine.
He said laboratory analysis carried out showed that the doctor died from EVD contacted from the primary contact adding that so far, several contacts have been traced and placed under surveillance.
The Minister said the contact who has since returned to Lagos showed no symptoms but Laboratory analysis indicated that he had suffered from the Virus.
Against reports that the country is now free from Ebola, the Minister stated that the country has only managed to contain its spread stressing that it has not been totally eliminated.
According to him, the total number of persons placed under quarantine in the country has Enugu with six(6) persons, Portharcourt seventy (70) with only one person showing symptoms while Lagos has one hundred and forty one(141).
He added that so far, the total number of deaths recorded as a result of the virus is six, out of which one is the American who was not treated in Nigeria.
Just as the situation was managed in Lagos and Enugu, Onyebuchi said the Incident Management Committee has since deployed its team to Portharcourt to this effect.
While speaking on the shift in the resumption date of schools in the country, he stated that the directive is a precautionary measure.
He said the October 13th directive was not to cause panic among people, but to ensure safety has children are more prone to spreading the virus.
In his remarks, Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku also urged Nigerians to strictly adhere to rules given by the FG regarding the virus.
He explained that being placed under the observation does not certify one as a carrier Ebola, adding that this will only aid health practitioners to render early treatment if the need arises.
"you will notice that the number of cases has increased from thirteen to fifteen. You will also notice that this additional two were not treated in the isolation ward in Lagos.
"One of the is primary contact of the index case Mr Patrick Sawyer. Even though presently he does not have EVD but further laboratory tests indicate that he had suffered EVD.
" This primary contact of Mr. Sawyer's evaded our surveillance team in the last week of July 2014 and travelled out of Lagos to Portharcourt where as we now understand he consulted with a doctor and was apparently treated for some symptoms.
"After four days, following a manhunt for him, he returned to Lagos by which time he was found to be without symptoms.
"This case would have been of no further interest since he had completed the 21 days of surveillance without any other issue but for the fact that the doctor who treated him died last Friday,22nd August 2014.
"I want to charge the residents of Port Harcourt not to panic over this situation as the experience we have gathered from Lagos and Enugu respectively indicate that there is no cause for alarm when you have the government fully in control of the situation.
"Once again we appeal to all the contacts under surveillance to abide by the advice given to them by the Incident Management Committee." Health Minister said.
Comments
Post a Comment