The Federal government has declared the Ebola outbreak in Nigeria a matter of national Emergency, adding that everyone is now at risk of being infected.
Speaking with State House correspondence at the end of today's Federal Executive Council meeting, the Minister of Health, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu said the Nigerian government has written to the Director of the United State Centre for Disease Control to request for the release of some of the unapproved ZMAG drug which has proven to be useful in the treatment of the Ebola disease.
He said the Federal government awaits a response from the United state government and hopeful if the drugs are released, they could be used to treat the confirmed cases of the Ebola virus disease in Nigeria.
The Minister advised Nigerians to avoid handshake as much as possible, stating that the virus is both contagious and infectious. He also said the virus could also be contacted through the sharing of bedspreads, pillow cases and towels among other personal effects with infected person.
He said the disease is not airborne but at close range of a 1meter from an infected person, the disease droplets can be transmitted.
The Minister also revealed that Isolation tent for each confirmed case cost the government as much as N20million. As regards the corpse of a Nigerian brought in from Liberia last week into Anambra state which caused Ebola scare in the state, the Minister said thorough examination on the corpse showed the man did not die of the deadly disease.
As part of strategies to rise to the national emergency, Chukwu said a website, www.ebolaalert.org, has been designed to offer information on the virus.
You can also call the helpline Toll Free - 0800 EBOLA HELP
This Ebola Virus outbreak is as a result of Africans ignorance and level of illiteracy. Its not a rocket science. If you have close contacts with victims u will are likely to be infected, so what should we do. REFRAIN, ISOLATE, CONTAIN suspected victims of the virus to stop others like your Mum, Dad, Sisters, Brothers, Wife, Husband, Children, Colleagues etc from getting the virus. But alas my dear Africans will never listen, we prefer to act like goats when there is an emergency, running up and down causing more havoc. If that Liberian who i heard hugged his sisters who bled to death from the virus with all his education still went ahead to travel out of the country then am afraid something must be wrong with us. Now they are dumping the bodies of the dead right on the street, which will further increase the spread of the virus. And some people obviously dropped him there, how are they so sure they have not been infected? The Lesson to take away from this is that we all need to be vigilant, if you notice anyone with d symptoms quickly alert the people in that environment to detain the person and call the Ebola health authorities to come and pick the person for testing and if positive for isolation. If not God forbid it will keep spreading out of senseless ignorance. Dont say its none of my business. Anybody can get, we all collect change from people, its likely to have sweat, saliva or blood of the person infected. We all go to market to buy grocery the seller might be infected....the list is endless. NIGERIANS THINK.......
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