Following the death of an Ebola victim
in Port Harcourt, Rivers State during the week, at least 160 persons
that made contact with the victim have been identified and put under
observation.
The Rivers State Commissioner for
Health, Sampson Parker, stated at a news conference at the state’s
secretariat in Port Harcourt on Friday that the people had shown no
signs of the Ebola disease.
The commissioner added that the baby of the widow of the late health worker, who has since been quarantined, was in good health.
While dispelling rumours that the state
was not working with the Federal Government in tackling the spread of
the disease, Parker said, “Rivers State now has a mobile testing unit
for testing blood samples for the virus. A national Ebola response team
has been set up and headed by the Minister of Health, Professor
Oyenbuchi Chukwu.”
He also stated that all places
identified to have been visited by the late victim after he met with an
ECOWAS diplomat, Oluibukun Koye, were being decontaminated as part of
measures to contain the spread of the disease.
The late doctor’s residence, the Green
Heart hospital, where he was treated and the morgue where his body was
kept, were part of the places being decontaminated.
Meanwhile, there was panic in the
University of Calabar Teaching Hospital in Cross River State over a
suspected Ebola case on Friday.
The scare was intensified when a member
of the National Conference from the state, Mr. Orok Duke, took to his
Facebook page to spread the information.
Duke said an Ebola patient arrived from Port Harcourt and had been quarantined.
But the Chief Medical Director of the
hospital, Dr. Thomas Agan, expressed shock over the situation while
describing Duke’s claim as unfounded.
In a text message sent to one of our
correspondents, he said, “I am shocked that someone of your status will
post an unfounded story on Facebook to misinform not only Nigerians but
the world at large! You know the implications are far reaching!
“Please be informed that there is no
case of Ebola both in UCTH and General Hospital, Calabar. I will advise
you to retract what you have posted immediately Sir!”
The state Commissioner for Health, Angela Oyo-Ita, said it was not true that an Ebola patient was quarantined at UCTH.
She said, “It is absolutely false.
Whoever is bringing that up does not mean well for the state. A sick
patient came in and people ran away. I received a call and acted on it;
so they got back to me and said the person tested HIV positive. The
person came from Port Harcourt.
“It is not true that people have been quarantined in the hospital. The patient has been tested for HIV and not Ebola.”
The Ebola Virus Disease has killed five
persons in Nigeria, with five of the deaths occurring in Lagos State,
where the first case of the disease was recorded.
Since the outbreak of the disease in West Africa, at least 1,500 deaths have been recorded.
