It is a terrifying development that
Nigeria is finally home to the scary Ebola virus following the death of
the Liberian national, Patrick Sawyer, in Lagos on Friday. Sawyer, a
WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) consultant at the Ministry of
Finance, died after being quarantined since falling ill after arriving
in Lagos, for a conference last Sunday. The virus is “out of control”
and spreading rapidly across the West African coast like a wild
harmattan fire with the World Health Organisation recording 44 new
infections and 660 deaths across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since
an outbreak in February. With several cases of Ebola reported in Mali,
Gambia, Ghana and Sierra Leone, West Africa is witnessing the most
challenging outbreak since the disease was discovered 38 years ago. WHO
recently declared that it expects the deadly virus’ spread to continue
for several more months in West Africa and now that it has spread to
three neighbouring countries, the crisis appears to be far from being
over.
In a country where management of
emergencies and disasters is lethargic, a nation where health care
facilities and personnel are grossly inadequate and doctors’ strike
incessant, coping with the outbreak of Ebola Virus will, no doubt, be a
very difficult national yoke. Nigeria remains one of five countries in
the world still grappling with the eradication of polio even with
readily available vaccination. In a country where strive is rife, the
burden of curtailing the outbreak of another disease with no available
vaccination will no doubt be a weighty crisis. This is why the
authorities must act fast to secure the nation’s borders and contain
spread of the deadly virus.
The Ebola virus was first identified in
the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976 and gets its name from the
Ebola River, which is situated near the village where it was discovered.
According to the WHO, Ebola is a
“zoonotic” disease, meaning that the virus can spread easily between
animals and humans. Scientists believe it was initially present in wild
animals living in tropical rainforests in equatorial Africa. Fruit bats
have also been identified as one of the main hosts as they can transmit
the disease while remaining unaffected by it. The disease spreads to
humans when they come into contact with blood or other body fluids from
infected animals, usually through hunting.
Ebola is highly infectious. It can be
transmitted through bodily fluids, skin and other organs or through
indirect contact with environments contaminated by the disease. The
disease can also have a long incubation period, lasting up to three
weeks, which allows it to spread rapidly before diagnosis and quarantine
can take place. Men who have been infected with the disease and
recovered can still pass it on through sexual contact for up to seven
weeks.
In the absence of effective treatment
and a human vaccine, raising awareness of the risk factors for Ebola
infection and protective measures individuals can take is the only way
to reduce human infection and death. Besides clinical management, the
WHO, the Federal Ministry of Health and other partners should implement
measures to respond to outbreak, contact tracing, disease surveillance,
laboratory work, logistics, information-sharing and communication for
effective response.
The Federal Ministry of Health must also
step up its public enlightenment campaigns to further create awareness
on how to prevent further infection and spread from the deadly virus,
and in case of infection, how to identify the early symptoms
characterised by sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain,
sore throat and death. There is the need for aggressive production and
distribution of Information, Education and Communication Materials on
prevention and management of Ebola Virus. Slots for jingles on radio
must be increased and made to have widest coverage.
All border states, because of their
proximity to the reported countries of outbreak, particularly to the
west of Nigeria should emulate Lagos and other states that have issued
warning alerts to their residents on the risk of Ebola Virus outbreak.
Lagos State, in particular, had advised the residents on precautionary
measures to prevent infections. These include washing of hands often
with soap and water, avoiding close contact with people who are sick and
ensuring that objects used by the sick are decontaminated and properly
disposed. The Disease Control Units of all the Ministry of Health in the
vulnerable states must also synergise in creating a coordinated
surveillance system around the border posts to identify possible
carriers.
One risk factor for the infection of
Ebola Virus that may be overlooked in Nigeria is the consumption of
‘bush meat’. The consumption of ‘bush meat’ is a significant
contributing factor in West Africa where it is regarded as a delicacy.
‘Bush meat’ is often sold by the roadside grills, and despite being
banned in Ivory Coast for instance, in an attempt to stop the spread of
the disease, people continue to sell and consume it. This is no
different in Nigeria. It is a fact that some of these ‘bush meats’ may
be harbingers of the deadly Ebola Virus. The concerned authorities must
therefore, immediately, ban the sale and consumption of bush meat. The
people must be enlightened on the dangers inherent in the consumption of
such meat.
We must be proactive in our attitude
towards the prevention of disease outbreaks; our responses to
catastrophes in this clime are usually reactive. In this instance, our
fire-brigade approach of rushing out to quench fire all the time, rather
than figure out how to put in place measures to prevent fire outbreaks
must be jettisoned. Our nationalistic tendencies for lack of prescience
must not prevail in protecting ourselves against the further spread of
the deadly Ebola Virus. A stitch in time saves nine.
