The Chairman, Ebola Viral Disease Control
Committee, Kwara State, Prof. Sunday Opabola, on Thursday said that a
suspected case of Ebola disease has been reported in the state.
He stated that the suspect is a seven-month old baby, who came with his parents from Ibadan for a visit at Ilorin.
Opabola, who is also the Senior Special
Assistant to the Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, on
Public Health, clarified that the baby, who was on Wednesday suspected
to have been infected with Ebola, was found with some symptoms, which he
said are not exclusive to Ebola disease.
According to him, the symptoms also manifest with patients of Lassa fever, cholera, malaria and some other diseases.
Opabola said that the baby initially
manifested symptoms of malaria, and after treating him for about two
days without improvement, his mother was advised to take him to a
private paediatric specialist hospital in Ilorin, the Kwara State
capital.
He added that after a clinical assessment
on the patient by the medical director of the hospital, the baby was
diagnosed with Ebola-like symptoms, such as fever, diarrhoea and
vomiting of contents that partly contained blood.
According to him, the doctor consequently
made a report of the baby’s case to the relevant government agency for
necessary actions.
He stated that the government has temporarily closed down the private hospital where the baby was initially admitted.
Opabola, who is also a Professor of
Medicine, said the state government immediately took the baby to the
Specialist Hospital at Sobi in Ilorin, for proper attention. He added
that samples from the patient had already being taken for tests at the
University Teaching Hospital, Lagos, and another unnamed testing centre
in Lagos.
He stated that results of the tests are expected to be ready on Friday (today).
The SSA disclosed that medical personnel
attending to the baby at the specialist hospital use Personal Protective
Equipment, while ambulance used to take him to the hospital is to be
regularly decontaminated. The ambulance, he said, has been dedicated to
conveying possible Ebola patients
