Revealing this at a press briefing at the Yaba Psychiatric Hospital, Lagos, on Saturday, Professor Chukwu confirmed that the statistics of currently confirmed cases of the virus in Nigeria had risen to 12.
The minister said the first Nigerian EVD carrier, the female doctor who attended to Mr Patrick Sawyer, had been freed from the deadly disease.
He added that, “the patients under treatment have now been moved to the new 40-bed capacity isolation ward provided by the Lagos State Government and, at present, five of the confirmed cases of EVD have almost fully recovered.”
Chukwu also disclosed that the experimental drug, Nano Silver, was rejected by the Federal Government because it did not meet the specification of National Health Research Ethic Code.
Speaking on the sack of Resident Doctors, Chukwu said their suspension was temporary.
US expresses worry over Nigeria
Meanwhile, there were growing concerns at the weekend over how Nigeria is handling its share of the problem as the world battles to stop the spread of the virus and save the lives of those who have contracted it.
However, authorities in the United States of America (USA) health sector commended the country and expressed hope that Nigeria stood the best chance of handling the problem, among affected African nations, even as there were indications that the world power is preparing well for victims of the disease in West Africa.
This is coming on the heel of reports of an upsurge in the number of victims of the disease as well as growing fear that it might bring economic hardship to millions of people in the region.
US experts hail Nigeria
According to a report by New York Times, it is believed that health workers in Nigeria “have fought the Ebola outbreak to a tentative standstill.”
American health workers believe that the country is “offering, at least, a chance to eradicate the disease there before it spins out of control, as it has in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, where a sluggish response failed to halt it early.”
The Director of the USA Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr Thomas Frieden, was quoted as saying American health workers were watching Nigeria with intense interest, “because of its huge population and because it is much more of a crossroads than the other three countries, in much closer touch with the rest of Africa.”
Another foreign expert, Dr Maurizio Barbeschi, a scientist from the World Health Organisation (WHO) who is working on the outbreak, was also quoted as saying that though there is panic in Nigeria, the situation is not hopeless for the country.
“They think it is a death sentence,” he said, adding, however, that the people of the country were getting good care and expressing doubt that the country’s death rate would reach that of the other countries, “where about 60 per cent of the cases have been fatal in some locations.”
Epidemic worse than world realises –WHO
The WHO also came out to admit that the current outbreak of the disease was underestimated what it termed “West Africa’s deadly Ebola epidemic.”
“It is probably much worse than the world realises, with health centres on the front lines,” it said, warning that the actual numbers of deaths and illnesses are significantly higher than the official estimates.
The organisation, in an announcement on Friday, added that so far, 2,127 cases of the disease and 1,145 deaths had been reported in four nations of Africa – Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, warning, however, that the actual number was “almost certainly higher, perhaps by a very considerable margin.”
“Staff at the outbreak sites see evidence that the numbers of reported cases and deaths vastly underestimate the magnitude of the outbreak,” it added.
One million in danger of hunger
Meanwhile, the Associated Press (AP) has reported that the Ebola scourge is disrupting the flow of goods, forcing the United Nations (UN) to plan food convoys for up to a million people as hunger threatens the largely impoverished areas of Guinea.
The news agency quoted observers as saying; “amid roadblocks manned by troops and pervasive fear among the population of the dreaded disease, the worst-ever outbreak of Ebola is increasingly impacting the food supply in three countries.
“The impacts are evident in Guinea’s capital of Conakry, where fruit and vegetables no longer arrive from the country’s breadbasket.
“In Sierra Leone and Liberia, several markets have been shut down. The price of rice and other staples is soaring in areas under Ebola quarantine.
“Hunters of bushmeat, which can carry the Ebola virus, have lost their livelihoods, and farmers in some areas have been cut off from their fields. Price-gouging hurts people who struggle to feed themselves in the best of times.”
Death toll now 1,145
The AP also quoted reported that at least 1,145 people have died across Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria, adding that new figures released on Friday showed that Liberia now has recorded more deaths – 413 – than any of the other affected countries.
Nigerian hunters, bushmeat sellers allege conspiracy
Meanwhile as the virus continues to create challenges in Nigeria, hunters and traders in bush meat in the country have alleged that the Western world is out to conspire against Africans and use the threat of the virus to extort people on the continent.
The group, under the aegis of National Hunters Association of Nigeria, at a seminar organised over the dreaded virus in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, during the week, lampooned the Federal Ministry of Health for not first “tracing the virus to animals in the bush to be spreading same and transferring it to human beings after consumption.”
In a speech presented by the Olori-Ode General of National Hunters Association of Nigeria, Chief Olasehinde Afolabi Ishola, the hunters said “it is too injurious if the Federal Ministry of Health can come out with such propaganda without a thorough test of those animals and even without involving the hunters in such investigation, believing that such can yield good result.
“I want to restate that most of these animals are being used by our forefathers as alternative Medicare which is still working up till today.
“I want to be precise about the animal, bat, part of which is being used to cure women with problem of childbearing. Our fathers used parts of bat to prepare medical soup (aseje) for them and they get pregnant as well as deliver the baby safely. Antelope’s parts are also used for such purposes. How and when did they become carriers of Ebola virus in the bush? Has there been any change in the foods the animals eat in the bush?
Also, the legal adviser to the hunters’ association, Mr Adekunle Odekanmi, who spoke at the event, warned Africans to beware, as “Ebola virus is caused by nuclear reactors from toxic waste drums dropped in African oceans.”
In his speech, entitled; “Ebola Virus: Cause and Cure,” the legal practitioner insisted that “the Ebola epidemic is from the developed countries or world powers, comprising America, Russia, Japan and China. All these nations use African oceans and seas as their dumping ground for nuclear reactor wastes.”
He concluded by saying that “bats and monkeys or other wildlife eat vegetables; they do not have drug injections and so do not cause Ebola.”
But the representative of veterinary doctors in Oyo State, Mr Ibrahim Akande, who also spoke at the event, advised hunters not to touch any wildlife the source of which death they did not know.
He added that in 1976, when the Ebola virus was detected in people in Congo, it was also noted that many apes in the forests of the country were also found dead, adding that findings showed that the people possibly contracted the disease from the animals.
FG to replicate UCH isolation tents in state capitals
Meanwhile, the Federal Government is contemplating replication of the University College Hospital (UCH)’s model of isolation tents in, at least, all state capitals of the country, as part of measures to curtail the spread of the virus in the country
To this end, an ad hoc Ministerial Committee of the Federal Ministry of Health, on Saturday, was at the hospital to assess the isolation tent with a view to seeing how it can be adapted for use in other parts of the country.
Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Mr Linus Awute, who led the three-member team, declared that “the tent UCH erected is a classical tent that we are going to use as a model for the whole federation.
“We must be able to imbibe best practices from within, instead of inviting people from America to tell us about isolation tents. If UCH is doing something, why can’t we see whether or not we can copy it?”
Mr Awute, who spoke through his Senior Technical Assistant, Dr Ibrahim Kana, declared that President Goodluck Jonathan’s directive was that, at least, one isolation tent should be constructed in each state of the federation.
Awute, full of praises for UCH’s preparedness to tackle the problem, said training of health workers had commenced as part of efforts to stem the fear of the disease among them and ensure they carry out their duties without getting infected.
According to him, “the fear health workers have actually extends to the general public. So, we, as health workers, should not be afraid of Ebola virus patients. All we need, as usual, is to take all precautionary measures when managing patients in general.”
Ilorin seven-month-old not Ebola victim
In another development, the Kwara State government has said the state is currently free from the deadly virus.
Special assistant on information to the state governor and member, Kwara State Committee on the Prevention and Control of Ebola Virus, Prince Deji Oni, said the development was consequent upon the receipt of negative test result on the only suspected case of the disease from Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH).
It would be recalled that the rumor mill was agog some days ago about a reported case of infection similar to Ebola in the state.
“As a responsible and responsive government, we swung into action by closing down the hospital where the suspected case was reported and immediately isolated the patient at the Sobi Specialist Hospital, Ilorin where necessary medication was administered on the child and the blood sample taken to Lagos to ascertain what the real cause of his sickness was.
“The test’s result from LUTH has subsequently proven negative. Effectively, Kwara has no confirmed case of Ebola at the moment. However, the public is urged to remain vigilant and report any suspected case to the nearest hospital, while continuing to take precautions against infection,” he said.
Osun bars foreigners, non-residents from participating in Osun Osogbo festival
Similarly, the Osun State government, on Saturday, announced that it has barred foreigners and non-residents from attending this year’s annual Osun Osogbo festival.
Sunday Tribune authoritatively gathered that development was aimed at checkmating potential spread of the deadly virus to the state.
Announcing the ban placed on foreigners and other categories of people who are not resident in Osun, the state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Sunday Akere, at a press conference, expressed the determination and readiness of the administration to safeguard the state from the menace of Ebola virus.
He maintained that the state took the “painful” decision in order to prevent some people who might have contracted the virus from spreading it to others who would also attend the festival.
While disclosing that the state government had taken some measures to ensure effective treatment of affected victims, in case of an outbreak of the virus in the state, Akere implored the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and other groups not to mobilise people to attend the festival.
“In our effort to make sure that the dreaded virus does not find its way into our midst, government has, at great pain, decided to restrict the influx of tourists into the state for this year’s Osun Osogbo International Festival.
“Government does not, in any way, intend to deprive the festival of its glamour or keep people away from being a part of the festivity. However, government has a duty to ensure the safety of lives and good health for the people, especially in situations of mortal threats such as the one posed by the deadly Ebola virus,” he said.
Lagos taking care of all cases –Fashola
Also, Lagos State governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola, SAN, said at the weekend that the state government was taking adequate care of all patients who had tested positive to the virus, while also gradually developing capacity to manage the emergency situation.
He also called for caution in media publication of commentaries on efforts to contain the virus.
The governor spoke in an interview with journalists at the Lagos House, Ikeja
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