The Lagos State Government on Monday said 59
people in the state came in contact with the 40-year-old Liberian who died of
Ebola virus in Lagos.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, who
made this known in Ikeja, explained that the number consisted of 44
health care workers and 15 others at the Murtala Muhammed Airport,
Lagos.
The commissioner said the government had not been
able to establish the number of contacts the Liberian had on the plane that
flew him into Nigeria because the management of Asky Airline had
not provided it with the manifest.
He however said that out of the 55 known
contacts, 20 had been screened and released.
Idris said, “So far, 59 contacts have
been registered, consisting 44 hospital contacts (38 health care workers and
six laboratory staff) and 15 airport contacts. The 15 airport contacts comprise
three ECOWAS staff-driver, Liaison, and Protocol Officer, Nigerian Ambassador
to Monrovia, two nursing staff and five airport passenger handlers.
“As of the time of this report, 20 contacts had
been physically screened of which 50 per cent had type one contact and 50 per
cent had had type two contact.
“Airline manifest has not been provided by the
airline and therefore the precise number of passenger contacts has yet to be
ascertained, especially as two flights were involved (Monrovia-Lome and
Lome-Lagos). There was no report of medical incident and the General
Declaration report of the flight.”
The commissioner, who advised Nigerians not to
panic, said nobody in the country had been infected with the virus.
He added that the state and the federal
governments were working to ensure that the virus did not infect anybody in the
country.
Idris said, “We can categorically state that as
of today, we have only one case of imported Ebola and death. No Nigerian is
infected, but all contacts are being actively followed.
“We call on all Nigerians to be calm and not
panic. We assure them that both the state and the Federal Government are up in
arms to ensure that the virus did not escape and that no Nigeria is infected
with this virus.”
He stated that the state government was working
with national and international bodies to be on top of the
situation and prevent any unpleasant development.
“The National Centre for Disease Control of the
Federal Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the Lagos State Ministry of
Health and the World Health Organisation established an Incident Command Centre
that coordinates the Rapid Response Team activities on the field. Five working
groups were established, namely: (i) Contact tracing, Surveillance &
Laboratory (ii) Health education/Social mobilisation (iii) Case management and
infection prevention/control (iv) Logistics (v) Data management.
“An Emergency Operations centre was also
activated at the conference room of Central Public Health Laboratory in Yaba,
Lagos, which also serves as the secretariat. WHO provided technical support and
action plan was developed. The Port Health Services of the FMOH, in
collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Aviation has put in motion
mechanisms to track down all contacts at high risk.
“An isolation ward has been designated by the
Lagos State Ministry of Health at the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba for
case management. The designation of three other health facilities is underway.”
The commissioner, who said that the government
was decontaminating the First Consultants Hospital in Obalende
where the Liberian was taken to during his illness, added that
his body was decontaminated and cremated.
“Adhering strictly to WHO guidelines, the body of
the deceased patient was decontaminated using 10 per cent sodium
hypochlorite and cremated, with the permission of the government of
Liberia. A cremation has been prepared for dispatch to the family. The vehicle
that conveyed the remains was also fully decontaminated,” Idris said.
He stressed that a call-in team had been
established for the public to dial and obtain any information
on Ebola virus.
The commissioner also said traditional and
religious leaders had been alerted to the disease and had been told to report
any symptom promptly to health care workers.
The Special Adviser to Governor Babatunde Fashola
on Health, Dr. Yewande Adesina, said Ebola illness initially gives
symptom of malaria and difficulty in eating.
She said, “After these, the patient could be
vomiting and stooling as if he has diarrh0ea. Later, blood would be
coming out from the eyes, ears, nose, anus and private parts.
“So if we are taking care of a patient that we
believe has malaria, we should always wash our hands with water and soap. Once
we recognise the symptom of Ebola illness, we should alert the team set up by
the government and also monitor update through the media.
“Now, we advise that charms and prayers cannot
stop the virus.”
It will be recalled that the Liberian entered the
country on July 20 via Lome on Asky Airline Flight KP50.
He was said to be on his way to Calabar, Cross
River State for the 8th ECOWAS Retreat of Heads of Offices as a
senior ECOWAS official in Liberia.
He was also reported to have been very ill on
arrival at the airport in Lagos and was assisted by some airport and ECOWAS
protocol staff to a private hospital in Obalende .
It was said that when he showed the symptom of
Ebola virus, the hospital notified the state Ministry of Health which also
notified the Federal Ministry of Health.
The patient was said to have died at about 6.50am
on July 25.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority
announced the suspended all ASky Airline operations in Nigeria on Monday.
NCAA’s General Manager, Public Affairs, Mr. Fan
Ndubuoke, said in a statement that the suspension took immediate effect.
He quoted the organisation’s Acting
Director-General, Mr. Benedict Adeyileka, as saying that the action was taken
to protect Nigerians from Ebola virus.
The statement read in part, “ ASky was invited to
the Aviation House to show evidence of actions it had taken since
the pandemic in their core areas of operation and after.
“The Airline representative could not offer any
conclusive or substantial evidence neither did he demonstrate any capacity to
be able to prevent a re-occurrence or possibly ship loading Ebola victims to
Nigeria.
“This is contrary to the provision of Article 14
of the Chicago Convention,1944, which states that ‘Each contracting state
agrees to take effective measures to prevent the spread by means of air
navigation, of cholera, typhus (epidemic), smallpox, yellow fever, plague and
such other communicable diseases as the contracting state shall from time to
time decide to designate.”
“The airlines operations were therefore suspended
with immediate effect until it is able to sufficiently and evidently prove that
adequate machinery is in place to provide adequate screening of passengers in
all their points of operation, including profiling of each passenger.”
Also on Monday, Liberia
closed most of its borders in a bid to halt the spread of Ebola
virus.
The authorities decided to close the borders
after a third doctor, who was working to contain the virus in West Africa,
contracted the disease.
President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf said only five
entry points, including James Spriggs Payne Airport in Monrovia and Roberts
International Airport, remained open.
‘‘Preventive and testing centres will be established
at the five entry points for all outgoing and incoming travellers,’’ she added.
Johnson-Sirleaf also announced restrictions on
public gatherings and requested hotels, restaurants, entertainment centres and
video clubs, to show educational Ebola prevention videos.
According to the President, Liberia is planning
to install facilities to wash hands in government facilities and public places
across the country.
‘‘Communities seriously affected by the Ebola
outbreak will be quarantined,’’ she stressed.
An American doctor, Kent Brantly, working to stop
the outbreak, was infected with Ebola and is being treated at an isolation
centre.
Brantly became the third doctor in less than a
week to fall ill with the virus.
A Liberian doctor, Samuel Brisbane, died on
Saturday at a clinic in Monrovia, while Sierra Leone’s leading Ebola
specialist, Sheikh Umar Khan, became ill last week.
WHO officials said the current Ebola outbreak
in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia was the deadliest ever.
Ebola virus causes massive haemorrhages and has a
fatality rate of 90 per cent. It is transmitted through blood and other body
fluids.
However, due to the suspension of flights to
Liberia by major airlines in Nigeria, some passengers to Monrovia and Banjul
are now stranded in some parts of the country, including Lagos.
At the MMA, on Monday, one of our correspondents
saw some passengers, including Nigerians, trying to make
alternative plans to travel to Monrovia.
Some of the stranded passengers said
they would fly to Ghana or Benin Republic first, before connecting
another flight to their destinations.
A Liberian, Mr. Michael Nelson, told The
PUNCH that he had been coming to Nigeria on a regular basis in the past
five years without any problem until now.
Copyright PUNCH.
Comments
Post a Comment