Barely two weeks after the deadly Ebola
Virus Disease claimed its first victim in Nigeria – a Liberian known as
Patrick Sawyer, who died in a private hospital at the Obalende area of
Lagos –another victim has tested positive to it.
The Health Minister, Prof. Onyebuchi
Chukwu, confirmed this on Monday, sending waves of fear through the
polity.
Reports said the minister, while
breaking the news to journalists in Abuja, described the latest victim
as one of the doctors who quarantined and treated Sawyer at the private
hospital before he died about a week later.
Although the doctor’s identity was still
unknown as at 8pm press time on Monday, the development has further
deepened the fear of the Ebola virus and its possible spread among the
millions of people resident in Lagos State and beyond. The logic of the
scare is simple: If doctors, to whom ordinary people would run, are that
helpless, what will be the fate of patients?
Unfortunately, many believe, the Federal
Government was not proactive enough. They believe that ever before the
deadly incursion of the virus from Liberia, the government ought to have
acted decisively since reports of Ebola-inflicted deaths were spread in
neighbouring countries. One of the options should have been closing
some of the country’s borders. But even until now, such a measure has
not been taken.
Indeed, such people sadly remember the
government’s initial reaction through the Minister of Information,
Labaran Maku, who boasted that Nigeria was super ready for the disease.
He went as far as saying the government had some vaccines ready for the
disease. Nigeria thus expect Maku to bring out the taunted drugs now
that Ebola is real.
The infection of the doctor, just a few
days after attending to Sawyer, and the deaths of over 700 victims of
the virus within three months of its rampaging presence in West Africa,
have thrown a scare so real that it has left many Nigerians confused
and, at the same time, worried about what desperate measures to apply to
contain its possible spread in the country.
The sad and unnerving event has not only
sent tremulous shock waves across the country, it has also triggered
off anxiety and panic over the highly contagious nature of the virus.
One of the factors that appear to
heighten the fear of the EVD among the people is the absence of a known
cure for the virus, as well as its capacity to spread among large
numbers of people within a very short time.
More Nigerians are suddenly conscious of
their vulnerability to this virus and the fact that their position is
further weakened by the lack of adequate health care services in many
parts of the country. This reality has, within the last few days, given
rise to general discussions around the subject of a possible cure or
antidotes for the EVD.
Acting on mere speculation, many people
have been trying hard to shrug off the approaching disaster with an
unusual belief in the efficacy of the bitter kola as an antidote for the
virus. Indeed, it is clear that the curative properties of the bitter
kola has not been medically determined, it is common to find groups of
people moving around with packs of the herb in their pockets.
Also, desperate to prevent a devastating
outbreak of the virus, especially in densely populated areas, the
Federal Government and the Lagos State Government have made efforts to
introduce measures to curb its likely spread among the people.
Perhaps to demonstrate its seriousness
towards finding a solution to the Ebola scare in the country, the FG on
Monday, through the health minister, inaugurated a treatment research
group comprising Prof. Shingu Gamaliel, Prof. Innocent Ujah and Prof
Maurice Iwu, as well as some officials from the Centre for Disease
Control.
The group’s duty is to carry out
treatment research, receive and verify treatment claims, as well as
advise government on issues relating to the Ebola Virus Disease in
Nigeria.
Government’s effort at this stage, no
doubt, is geared towards preventing the spread of the killer virus in
the country. But there is need for an urgent and more result-oriented
strategies that should be aimed at effectively preparing the health
sector for the task at hand.
While it is true that many Nigerians
across all walks of life are beginning to show in different ways that
they are aware of the potentially devastating impact of the EVD, a lot
of people, especially those living in the rural areas, will need to be
persuaded to discard traditionally backward habits and attitudes that
could expose them to deadly virus.
Meanwhile, there is an indication that a
cure for the EVD may likely be announced soon. An online report said
recently that three top secret, experimental vials stored at subzero
temperatures were flown into Liberia last week in a last-ditch effort to
save the American missionary workers who had contracted Ebola,
according to a source familiar with details of the treatment.
CNN reports that a representative from
the National Institutes of Health contacted Samaritan’s Purse, the aid
organisation both Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol worked for in
Liberia, and offered up the experimental treatment, known as ZMapp
The drug was developed by the biotech
firm Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc. According to company documents, four
monkeys infected with Ebola and then given the therapy within 24 hours
had survived. Two of four monkeys that started therapy within 48 hours
also survived, while one that was not treated died within five days of
exposure.
| credits: International SOS
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