Ebola: Patrick Sawyer was evil, a terrorist – Nigerians

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Nigeria was a merry-go country and free of the deadly Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) until late Liberian-American, Patrick Sawyer, ignominiously appeared on the scene on July 20 fully aware that he had the disease having had contacts with his sister, who died of EVB on July 8.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">He had been suspended from work by his Company, Arcelor Mittal and was supposed to be under isolation, observation and monitoring. With the connivance of Liberia’s Deputy Finance Minister For Fiscal Affairs, Sebastian Muah, who cleared him to travel to Nigeria for an ECOWAS convention in Calabar, Mr. Sawyer, who avoided bodily contacts with people at the airport in Monrovia, Liberia found his way to Lagos.<a href="http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/08/ebola-patients-survived-experts/patrick-sawyer/" rel="attachment wp-att-460147" style="-webkit-transition: background-color 0.2s linear, border-top-color; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: background-color 0.2s linear, border-top-color; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Patrick-Sawyer" class="alignright size-full wp-image-460147" height="232" src="http://dvsl3w2q45hb8.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Patrick-Sawyer.jpg" style="-webkit-transition: margin 0.2s linear, box-shadow; border: none; display: inline; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; transition: margin 0.2s linear, box-shadow;" width="175" /></a></span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">He boarded an Asky Airline plane and became severely ill on the plane and was taken to First Consultant Hospital, Obalende, from the Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos. Since Sawyer’s infamous arrival, Nigeria has lost four people to the Ebola disease: the ECOWAS official, who drove him to the hospital, two nurses who assisted him at the hospital and the doctor, who physically restrained him from leaving his bed after he tried to remove the drip administered on him.Saturday Vanguard asked our teeming readers their views of Mr. Sawyer and captures their interesting views below.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sawyer is wicked</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The man was a very wicked person. He knew that he had the virus and he deliberately decided to bring it to Nigeria. – <span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Joseph Sunday, Interior Decorator.</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">He needed help</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I see Patrick Sawyer as someone who only needed help. He knew he had the disease, but felt he could get a cure in Nigeria without knowing how deadly and serious it was. – <span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Jefferson Aisegame, Banker</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">His actions</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">expose our porosity as a nation</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The man became famous and will be remembered for a negative cause. His name has become synonymous and associated with the Ebola Virus – a time bomb whose explosion shows our porosity as a nation. I don’t think his actions were deliberate. <span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Christopher Urokonweze, Biochemist</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">He was a thief</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I think he’s a thief, because he knew he had the virus, yet he deliberately brought it here. He decided to distribute the disease to people. That kind of person is capable of terrible acts. Thank God, he was exposed at the airport. If he had succeeded and mixed up with people in the country without their knowledge, it would have been disastrous. – <span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Chief Gabriel Obi, Trader</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">He was a </span><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">terrorist, devil</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">That man was a terrorist. He was a devil incarnate. He knew he had it and that he was going to die, but he wanted to die with innocent people. If they hadn’t caught him here in Nigeria, he probably would have migrated to another country. The man was just out to kill. He is worse than Boko Haram.- <span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Elias Nwoke, Businessman</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sawyer should’nt have left Liberia</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I think since he knew his condition and knowing that there was no case of the disease in Nigeria, he shouldn’t have embarked on that journey to this country. But maybe what ever the issue brought him here must have been very crucial. – <span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Dr. Adeyinka Adeleye.</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">He was </span><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">very wicked</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The man knew what he was doing. He knew the disease is deadly and dangerous, still he travelled to Nigeria with it. That man was a very wicked man. We just pray to God to help us. – <span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Victoria Eretan, Nurse</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It was sheer wickedness</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">What he did was sheer wickedness. If he wanted a cure, he should have remained in his country and looked for a cure there instead of coming to spread it here. Now, we are all suffering as a result. I pray the government gets a cure to the disease soonest. – <span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Mrs. Okoro Kate, Trader.</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">He would have got help in Liberia</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">What that man did was bad. He wasn’t supposed to come into Nigeria with that disease. He should have remained where he was and I believe people would have been able to help him there. – <span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Mrs. Amaka Aniagolu.</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">EVB has affected our businesses</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Since he knew he had the virus, he wasn’t supposed to travel. He should have remained where he was.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">People are no longer free and this disease has caused bad sales for us. – <span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Olaide Sheriff, Meat Seller</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sawyer was heartless</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">That man was heartless and wicked. He decided to bring his problem to this country to cause us more problems. What he did was very bad and he did it intentionally. – <span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Akeem Adeyemo, Meat Seller.</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">He didn’t want </span><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">to die alone</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The man just acted like a typical African who wouldn’t want to fall alone, so he decided to spread the virus. He wanted people to die with him . – <span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Mr. Fortune Wilson, Businessman.</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Episode exposed lapses in our security system</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He knew quite well that he had the virus, yet he came into the country with it. This shows the lapses in our security system and how porous our borders are. He didn’t want to die alone and his actions have resulted into an epidemic. – <span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Chief P.C Agu, Businessman.</span></span></div> <div class="OUTBRAIN" data-browser="safari" data-dynload="" data-ob-mark="true" data-os="ipad" data-src="http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/08/ebola-patrick-sawyer-evil-terrorist-nigerians/" id="outbrain_widget_0" obdone="true" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div class="ob_strip_container NA" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;"> <span class="ob_empty" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><wbr style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></wbr></span><span class="ob_org_header" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 0px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></div> </div> </div>

Ebola: Patrick Sawyer was evil, a terrorist – Nigerians

Nigeria was a merry-go country and free of the deadly Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) until late Liberian-American, Patrick Sawyer, ignominiousl...

Read more »

Ebola: Dearth of volunteers persist in Lagos despite N60,000 daily pay, insurance

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <h1 class="entry-title posttitle" itemprop="name headline" style="border: 0px; margin: 10px 0px 30px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 2819px;"> <span style="font-size: small;">-Sun Newspaper</span></h1> <div id="entryContainer" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div class="entry entry-content" itemprop="articleBody" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 6px 0px 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">LAGOS State is facing the problem of shortage of volunteers to help care for the victims of the deadly Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). In spite of a life insurance scheme and N60, 000 daily allowance being offered by the state government, health workers and volunteers are still not forthcoming.</span></div> <br /> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This is coming as the Ebola disease saga in Nigeria took a sinister twist with cases of Ebola virus infection emerging among two spouses of the health workers (primary contacts) that attended to the index (first) case, Liberian-American, Patrick Sawyer.</span></div> <div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_460518" style="border: 0px; float: right; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 422px;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <a href="http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/08/unn-students-wage-war-ebola-virus/unn-ebola-pix/" rel="attachment wp-att-460518" style="-webkit-transition: background-color, border-top-color; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: background-color, border-top-color; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;"><img alt="*Biochemistry students of UNN staging an awareness campaign on Ebola virus." class="size-full wp-image-460518" height="351" src="http://dvsl3w2q45hb8.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/UNN-Ebola-pix.gif" style="-webkit-transition: margin 0.2s linear, box-shadow; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.247059) 1px 1px 1px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: margin 0.2s linear, box-shadow;" width="412" /></span></a></div> <div class="wp-caption-text" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 8px 0px 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">*Biochemistry students of UNN staging an awareness campaign on Ebola virus.</span></div> </div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Minister for Health, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu, who confirmed the development in an announcement  yesterday in Abuja,  said the new cases are among the secondary contacts who have been under surveillance in Lagos but were quarantined as soon as they developed Ebola symptoms.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Disturbed by the dearth of volunteers, the Lagos State Government has appealed to health workers and volunteers to come forward to join the state’s effort in the battle against the dreaded EVD.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Lagos State Commissioner for Health Dr. Jide Idris, said they were striving to save the lives of confirmed Ebola cases but “our major challenge in this regard is personnel with requisite expertise, hence, our call for volunteers.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“We require experts in different medical fields including critical care and infectious diseases and these still need to be trained using the World Health Organisation (WHO) protocol which may require up to five days of committed training before such experts can apply their skills safely without risk to themselves. Our international experts are currently providing this training on site.”</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This is coming on the heels of the donation of 30 body scanners by the United States of America, USA, government to the Nigerian government to check body temperature at the country’s various ports of entry.’’</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Speaking on the two new cases, Onyebuchi said: “The two are spouses of a man and woman who had direct contact with Liberian-American Patrick Sawyer, who flew into the country last month with the virus and infected 11 others before he died in July, including the male and female caregiver who both subsequently died of Ebola.’’</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“The last two cases bring the total number of confirmed infections in Nigeria, including Sawyer, to 14. This brings to four the total number of EVD patients currently under treatment at the isolation ward of the Ebola Control unit of the Mainland Hospital, Lagos.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“The number of deaths still remains five while the number of those successfully managed and discharged also stands at five,” Chukwu said, noting that Federal Government, is working with  the Lagos State government and other partners, to maintain vigilance and continue to strengthen containment of the dreaded Ebola virus.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Along with Sawyer, the Lead Consultant at First Consultants Medical Centre, Dr Ameyo Stella Adadevoh, one other female doctor, a nurse, and an official of the ECOWAS office in Lagos have so far died of Ebola in Nigeria.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It was not immediately clear if the newly confirmed cases are spouses of primary contacts who are dead or alive even though Chukwu had earlier in the week, hinted that with a good number of secondary contacts yet to complete the 21-day incubation period, the possibility of more cases of Ebola could not be entirely ruled out.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He reassured the global community that the country would not relent until the very last case of the disease is eradicated.The Federal Government, Chukwu said, is working with the Lagos State government and other partners, to maintain vigilance and continue to strengthen containment.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Federal Government, last Thursday approved the release of N200 million to Lagos State to fight the disease.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">However, the emergence of Ebola infected secondary contacts is unprecedented and heightens fears about the possibility of the disease spreading beyond expectations.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It also raises questions about the validity of assurances earlier given about the general low risk of exposure to the index case alleged to have been taken to hospital immediately on arrival at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Reaching all contacts</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">On Thursday, the Lagos state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris said a total of 213 people were  currently under surveillance as part of efforts to monitor people who may have been potentially exposed to Ebola and that all persons certified negative have been freed.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Ebola  virus runs a maximum of 21 days and aside the treatment for those who have full blown cases, the more important work is tracking all those who have had primary and secondary contact.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Reaching all contacts is believed to be crucial towards gaining control over the virus, according to the World Health Organisation, which expressed cautious optimism when it noted that it was hopeful over the situation in Nigeria because all the confirmed cases came from a single chain of transmission.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Plans underway to honour Dr Adedevoh — </span><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">FG</span></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Arrangements are being made by the federal government to honour Dr Stella Ameyo Adadevoh for the sacrifice she made in ensuring that Ebola did not spread to other parts of the country, the Minister of Health, Prof. Chukwu said yesterday in Abuja yesterday when he received the Association of Private Medical Practitioners in his office.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Chukwu who commended the efforts of private medical practitioners in the country especially the role played by the First Consultant Hospital and the late Dr Adadevoh which he described as very crucial in ensuring that the virus do not spread like in other countries.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He said that the role of private medical practitioners have become sacrosanct, adding; “particularly now when public medical practitioners,  doctors are on strike.”</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“You have lost one of your colleague,  Dr Adadevoh,  we mourn her and all Nigerians who lost their lives to Ebola. We will ensure that her bravery,  courage and patriotism will not go unnoticed.”</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">NAS cautions against stigma, panic</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">President of the Nigeria Academy of Science, Prof Oyewale Tomori, cautioned against panic and stigmatizing of victims.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In a statement, Tomori said: “As the foremost independent scientific body in the country, and based on available evidence from the 22 other outbreaks of EVD that have occurred in the East and Central Africa in the past, the Academy wishes to state that there is absolutely no need for panic, but that the public should fully cooperate with the appointed health authorities. “The EVD is a deadly disease but patients stand a good chance of survival if taken in early for supportive management. The Nigerian record of the number of patients already discharged from the Ebola Treatment Centre strongly supports this. It is important to point out that these persons were discharged after having been certified virus-free by the laboratories at LUTH and Redeemers University.”</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">MDCAN commends FG</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Meanwhile the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria, MDCAN, has commended the Government  over its response to the Ebola disease. It also called on Nigerian communities to cooperate with the government to locate treatment centres in any area of choice by the Ministries of Health.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Rising from a meeting of its Executive Committee, MDCAN in a statement, signed by the President, Dr Steven Oluwole also called for better protection for the health personnel in the forefront of the fight against the disease.</span></div> </div> </div> </div>

Ebola: Dearth of volunteers persist in Lagos despite N60,000 daily pay, insurance

-Sun Newspaper LAGOS State is facing the problem of shortage of volunteers to help care for the victims of the deadly Ebola Virus Di...

Read more »

This is How Ebola Spread into Sierra Leone and went viral

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">                            <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisHsJgMZCVAKGB6-m6USDVBESgDp8BaxDhNv1cebe0oU0gQPCCijCmUx7ww0YFfNI0rnUkOuEyt5guIA09ayCZUKvKz_PwVWsq4z_b9lHJv4Z4nKXZFV0jbRqUNHGvjRG65IPhyphenhyphenZnhsvQ/s1600/ebola-011.jpg" /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Health officials in <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD1">Sierra Leone</span> have blamed the outbreak of the deadly <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD2">Ebola Virus</span> on a female herbalist who claimed to have power to heal people of the disease.</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The health officials said the disease should not have spread from Guinea to Sierra Leone, but for the herbalist who lived in the eastern border village of Sokoma.</span></div> <span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="more" style="text-decoration: none;"></a><br /></span></span> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> “She was claiming to have powers to heal <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD8">Ebola</span>. Cases from Guinea were crossing into Sierra Leone for treatment,” Mohamed Vandi, the <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD4">top medical</span> official in the hard-hit district of Kenema, told <em>Agence France-Presse</em>.</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“She got infected and died. During her funeral, women around the other towns got infected.”<br />The herbalist’s mourners fanned out across the rolling <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD3">hills</span> of the Kissi tribal chiefdoms, starting a <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD7">chain reaction</span> of <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD6">infections</span>, deaths, funerals and more infections.<a href="" name="more"></a></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The deadly Ebola Virus has claimed the lives of more than 1,300 people in West Africa as well as a Spanish Priest who died last week in Spain.</span></div> <br /></div>

This is How Ebola Spread into Sierra Leone and went viral

                               Health officials in  Sierra Leone  have blamed the outbreak of the deadly  Ebola Virus  on a female her...

Read more »

Ebola: US Commends Nigeria as Four More Patients are Discharged

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSPW0v8xYpxt8h-SFOrJGzl_tG7gq12wNfGjmWpvHjahFjWgv8tRpkuPvuHkVmsPGODd6czVV8KXtmfi9OJjtWG_ihtPhRDDWobObt47lnZafsqmg_SGEBBo02E6qsljOb-KsDUgSeMio/s1600/Onyebuchi-Chukwu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSPW0v8xYpxt8h-SFOrJGzl_tG7gq12wNfGjmWpvHjahFjWgv8tRpkuPvuHkVmsPGODd6czVV8KXtmfi9OJjtWG_ihtPhRDDWobObt47lnZafsqmg_SGEBBo02E6qsljOb-KsDUgSeMio/s1600/Onyebuchi-Chukwu.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" /></span></a></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <em style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu, Health Minister</em></div> <ul> <li style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> Rules out sending trial drug</span></li> <li style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> Two new persons in Lagos, one in Kaduna placed under watch </span></li> <li style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> WHO: All outbound travellers must be screened</span></li> </ul> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The US government has commended the Nigerian government and its health authorities for their handling of the Ebola virus since it broke in Lagos last month.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The US’ commendation came on the back of more good news yesterday that four more patients who had contracted the disease had been discharged and declared free of the infectious disease.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">With their discharge, this brings the total number of people who have been given the all clear to five.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A total of 12 people were struck with the virus in Nigeria, including the index case Patrick Sawyer, of which four have died, five have been discharged while three remain in the isolation ward at the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba, Lagos.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">However, all hopes that the US would send the ZMapp experimental drug to Nigeria were dimmed yesterday when the US government ruled out the possibility, saying there were insufficient quantities of the drug available.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Making this known when he visited the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, in Abuja, the US</span></div> </div> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><em><strong></strong></em><a href="" name="more"></a>Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle, informed reporters that what was needed was to focus primarily on isolation and the screening of patients or those suspected to have contracted the virus.</span><br /> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">According to Entwistle: “We’ll see down the road what is possible. But there are no huge quantities now. And we think the focus now needs to be on exactly what you are doing: the isolation wards, screening, and especially important that now your government is doing a very good job on this, that is contact tracing.”</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The envoy said he just came back from the US late last week, adding, “I was in Washington, of course, for the US-African Leaders Summit and I came over to see the minister right away as soon as I got back into town to discuss our anti-Ebola cooperation.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“I was in the room in Washington when Vice President (Joe) Biden and President (Goodluck) Jonathan talked about the Ebola crisis, talked about our partnership, and pledged the total cooperation between your government and my government on this issue.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“So I just came over to see the minister this morning to talk to him about that and you’ve all seen the headlines over the weekend. This is an issue where we have to keep working hard. It may last for a while but there are some encouraging signs.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“The Emergency Operation Centre (EOC), I understand, is working well. The isolation ward, I understand, is working well. So this is an example we have, as part of the broad partnership between our two countries, just keep collaborating and cooperating and keep working hard.”</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">While commending Nigeria for effectively curtailing the spread of the Ebola virus, Entwistle stated: “I noticed that when I flew back on Thursday night into this country, before I left the plane, I filled out a questionnaire.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“I was very impressed because I even had to put my seat number which is a very good idea. So if you ever have to trace the guy sitting next to me you know where I am. So I have been impressed by these things and I encourage the government of Nigeria to keep at it as I know they will.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“I always say we have a broad partnership between our two countries which means we do things together as equals to make the world a better place. I can’t think of a more important example today than our Ebola cooperation.”</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Chukwu, on his part, said the visit came at the right time considering the need for collaboration between the two countries, specifically on the Ebola virus.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Chukwu said as the representative of the US government, the envoy will assist in various ways in the prevention of the virus from spreading further.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The minister referred to the US ambassador as the spokesperson for the US government in Nigeria, adding, “So he came to me as the chief public health officer of the country, because that is what the Minister of Health is, to exchange views with me on the collaboration with America.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <strong><div style="text-align: left;"> <strong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Four Patients Discharged</strong></div> </strong><div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The minister also disclosed that four additional patients were yesterday discharged and declared free of the infectious disease.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In a statement in Abuja, Chukwu said the development was a good omen for Nigeria, taking into cognisance the devastation the virus had caused in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The statement signed by his Special Assistant, Media and Communication, Dan Nwomeh, stated that the “Minister of Health has announced that four additional confirmed cases of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), which have been managed successfully, and are now disease-free and have been discharged to go home today (yesterday)”.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It added that the discharged patients included two male medical doctors and one female nurse.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“The three participated in the treatment of the index case while the fourth person was a female patient at the time the index case was on admission.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“This brings to five the total number of patients diagnosed with the Ebola Virus Disease who have now been discharged from hospital,” it explained.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <strong><div style="text-align: left;"> <strong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Three under Surveillance</strong></div> </strong><div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Also, giving an update, the Lagos State Government yesterday confirmed the discharge of the four patients, but revealed that three more persons had been placed under surveillance to ascertain whether they would show symptoms of the disease.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The state’s Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, made the disclosure last night at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba, stating: “We have four more patients that are ready to be discharged today (yesterday).</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“They have gone through the same protocol. The protocol is that before we release anyone or certify him or her negative, he or she has to be symptom-free for a period of over three weeks.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“We also had to test their blood samples and the result was negative. They will be released today after they have completed their counseling being conducted by our psychosocial team. But they will come periodically for check-ups, though they are okay.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“The other three patients are still being monitored at the isolation centre. Once they get better, they will be released. The lady who ran to Enugu is still under isolation and she has tested positive to the virus.”</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">On those under surveillance, Idris said the new cases had been discovered. “One of them is a blood sample from Kaduna while two others are from Lagos. They are primary contacts. On the Kaduna case, the reason for this is that they do not have the laboratory to test for the virus.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Four persons have died already, including the index case, Mr. Patrick Sawyer. We had eight in the isolation ward before Saturday when we released the doctor. This doctor was released after testing negative and going through the WHO and CDC procedures for discharge.”</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Idris maintained that there have been 12 confirmed cases, which he said included the index case, noting that all the cases that had been confirmed positive and those who had died were linked to the index case.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He also disclosed that more medical personnel had shown interest “to care for the patients. We have eight doctors and nine nurses and some health workers who have gone through training.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“We have also been joined by infectious disease experts from the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH). All these people have gone through training. Though the number is not enough as we need more”.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <strong><div style="text-align: left;"> <strong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">NLC Opposes Doctors’ Dismissal</strong></div> </strong><div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But as Nigeria made inroads in its fight against the virus, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) criticised the federal government’s dismissal of resident doctors in federal hospitals.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">NLC, in a statement yesterday by its president, Abdulwaheed Omar, said it was ill-advised and urged government to reconsider its stand in view of the prevailing health challenges in the coutry.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The union pointed out that no country could afford to neglect its health sector, including the personnel that work there during trying times.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It emphasised that what the country needed urgently was the recruitment of more health professionals, well equipped public hospitals, and a well organised health system capable of responding to the health concerns of Nigeria’s growing population.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“We believe the federal government was misadvised and also misled by this action. It is clearly unwarranted to sack doctors just as we are collectively faced with the challenge of the Ebola virus. It is even more dangerous to sack medical personnel in a country of over 170 million people with a ratio of one doctor to over five thousand patients.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“What the country needs urgently is recruitment of more health professionals, well equipped public hospitals, and a well organised health system, and not sacking of any category of health personnel,” the NLC said.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It urged the federal government to carry out an urgent audit of the public health sector to determine the state of the sector in terms of equipment, personnel and funding.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“While workers and indeed all Nigerians are at great risk and require adequate protection, those in the medical sector should particularly be sufficiently equipped and given incentives to guarantee their safety and boost morale.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“No country can afford, especially in these trying times, to neglect its health sector, including the personnel that work there,” the statement added.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <strong><div style="text-align: left;"> <strong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Doctors Protest</strong></div> </strong><div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The NLC’s position was given fillip by the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in Lagos and Ondo States whose members embarked on peaceful protests against the government’s sack of the resident doctors.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Lagos State NMA chairman, Dr. Tope Ojo, who led his colleagues on the protest at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), said a reversal of the mass sacking was the only thing that could make discussions with government continue on the strike.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He said this was an important step for NMA to continue to dialogue with the government, adding that doctors should not feel threatened by the sack.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Ojo said doctors were not asking for an increment in their salary but a better healthcare delivery system.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“The country’s universal health coverage is inadequate as it only covers 30 per cent of the people. We want this for everybody, irrespective of age and class in the society,” he added.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The NMA chair also urged the government to lift the ban on residency training so that medical education can continue to grow like those of the United Kingdom and the US.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Also speaking, the Second Vice President, Lagos State branch of NMA, Dr. Olusegun Akinwotu, said resident doctors constituted about 60 per cent of the medical workforce, adding that sacking them would mean killing the patients who require their services.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Also government’s handling of the issue is not encouraging as resident doctors join consultants during surgery. They also impart knowledge on to house officers,” he said.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Speaking to the protesters, the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of LUTH, Prof Akin Osibogun, represented by the hospital’s Chairman Medical Advisory Committee (CMAC), Prof Chris Bode, said they should go about their complaints peacefully.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He said the situation called for sober reflection and moderation. “We are doctors and it is expected of us to be of high moral conduct. We must not constitute a danger to the public,” Osibogun said.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">NMA presented a letter stating their demands to the CMD for onward transmission to the health minister.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Similarly, doctors in Ondo State under the auspices of NMA demanded the recall 16,000 resident doctors sacked by the federal government before they could return to the negotiating table with the government to end their strike.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The chairman of the state chapter, Dr. Bamidele Betiku, said the decision of the federal government would make the country lack specialised doctors and make adequate healthcare delivery elusive to the masses.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The doctors, who marched from the NMA secretariat along Igbatoro Road to the governor's office in Alagbaka, Akure, sang solidarity songs while the protest lasted.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Also, the Cross River State chapter of NMA equated the sack of the resident doctors with the closure of all federal medical institutions in the country.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">NMA in the state said the sacking of the resident doctors, by implication, was the consequential sack of about 64,000 of its members.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Chairman of the NMA in the state, Dr. Calistus Enyuma, a consultant pediatrician, at a press briefing in Calabar, said: “As it stands, the federal government suspended the training of resident doctors; that means the government has closed down teaching hospitals, closed down medical schools, and the implication is that you have sacked over 64,000 doctors throughout Nigeria.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“It happened during the (Muhammadu) Burari regime in 1984 and we had the brain drain and you can guess what will happen in the next few months.”</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">On the current strike embarked on by the NMA, he said: “Our appeal to the federal government is to negotiate with the NMA to bring sanity to the health sector.”</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <strong><div style="text-align: left;"> <strong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">EU Border Agency Suspends Migrant Flights</strong></div> </strong><div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In a related incident, the European Union (EU) border agency, Frontex, said yesterday it had suspended flights taking migrants back to Nigeria.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“We have decided to indefinitely suspend those flights that we coordinate and co-finance to Nigeria,” Frontex spokeswoman, Ewa Moncure told AFP.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Warsaw-based agency only handles around two per cent of all flights carrying migrants who have crossed into the EU back home. The EU countries in question handle the rest.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Last year, 160,000 such migrants were sent back to their home countries, mainly to Albania, India, Pakistan and Russia.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Certain countries, notably Austria, have taken a similar decision” to suspend flights to countries affected by the deadly Ebola virus, Moncure said.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The current Ebola outbreak, the worst since the virus first appeared in 1976, has claimed 1,145 lives including four in Nigeria.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <strong><div style="text-align: left;"> <strong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">WHO: All Outbound Travellers Must be Screened</strong></div> </strong><div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has advised authorities in countries struck with Ebola to screen all travellers departing at international airports, seaports and major border crossings.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A statement issued by the UN health agency recommended that people with any sign of the virus should be stopped from travelling.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The agency reiterated that the risk of getting infected with Ebola on an aircraft was small and said there was no need for wider travel or trade restrictions, reported the Reuters news agency.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Affected countries are requested to conduct exit screening of all persons at international airports, seaports and major land crossings, for unexplained febrile illness consistent with potential Ebola infection.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Any person with an illness consistent with EVD should not be allowed to travel unless the travel is part of an appropriate medical evacuation,” the statement said.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Nigeria’s health minister had on August 7 announced that all outbound passengers from the country would be screened.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The precautionary measure was taken after the disease was imported into Nigeria from Liberia on July 20.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <i style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Source: ThisDay</i></div> </div>

Ebola: US Commends Nigeria as Four More Patients are Discharged

Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu, Health Minister  Rules out sending trial drug  Two new persons in Lagos, one in Kaduna placed under watch   W...

Read more »

Ebola: Why U.S. won't give Nigeria experimental drug, Zmapp — U.S. Ambassador

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6898470381004524941" itemprop="description articleBody" style="position: relative; width: 670px;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaxy1PA14eIN9oKDOGxDahXpvw61W6bjeiXmyXGvrXRxIKCphWLPpjyUwjsfMB-PquBcd8rr6MrXKEGq0daulOV38dSda2CtQ6G3R2Kn3LUztKXAa90XF195f3ZHLXyiuZdjh2S2jzhmA/s1600/US-ambassador-and-nig-min-of-health-1726x1080.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaxy1PA14eIN9oKDOGxDahXpvw61W6bjeiXmyXGvrXRxIKCphWLPpjyUwjsfMB-PquBcd8rr6MrXKEGq0daulOV38dSda2CtQ6G3R2Kn3LUztKXAa90XF195f3ZHLXyiuZdjh2S2jzhmA/s1600/US-ambassador-and-nig-min-of-health-1726x1080.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; border: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="640" /></span></a></div> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The American Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle, on Monday said his country was not yet in a position to make the Ebola Disease experimental drug, Zmapp, available to Nigeria. Mr. Entwistle said during a visit to the Nigerian Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, that the drug was not yet available in sufficient quantity to go round all the countries requesting it. The ambassador did not say when the drug would be available for Africa’s most populous country. He only advised the Nigerian health ministry to focus on isolation, screening and prevention. Mr. Entwistle commended the efforts of the Federal Government in curbing the spread of the Ebola virus in the country.<br /><br />He said the aim of the visit was to discuss further on the anti-Ebola cooperation between the U.S government and the Nigerian government. The ambassador also praised the work done at the emergency operation centre and the isolation centre, saying he understood that they were working hard. “You have all seen the headlines over the weekend, this is an issue that we have to keep working hard on, it may be with us for a while but there are some encouraging signs.<br /><br />“Your government is doing a good job on contact tracing; I noticed when I flew back here on Thursday night into the country, before I left the plane I filed in the questionnaire. “I was very impressed because I had to put in my seat number which is a very good idea, so that if you have to trace the guy who was seating next to me you will know where I am. “I have been very impressed by this thing so I encourage the government of Nigeria to keep at it, which I know they will,” he said. Mr.Entwistle said the two countries had a broad partnership to keep collaborating, cooperating and working hard to make the world a better place. He said he could not think of a more important example of cooperation than the Ebola cooperation. Speaking during the visit, the Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, said the Nigerian Government was withholding its approval for the Anti-Ebola drug Nano-Silver produced by a Nigerian because it did not meet the requirements of the National Health Research Ethics Code. He said that the Nano Silver drug, which was made available to the Emergency Operations Centre in Lagos on August 14, did not meet basic research requirements. “The experimental drug, Nano Silver did not meet the requirements of the National Health Research Ethics Code. “Accordingly, the approval was withheld by the National Health Research Ethics Committee,” Mr. Chukwu said. He said the ambassador’s visit was an opportunity to share ideas and information on Ebola virus. “He is the spokesperson for the United States’ government here in Nigeria, and so he came to me as the Chief Public Health Officer of the country to exchange views with me,” Mr. Chukwu said. The minister said Mr. Entwistle also visited to know if there was any new development that recently cropped up on the Ebola virus.</span></div> </div>

Ebola: Why U.S. won't give Nigeria experimental drug, Zmapp — U.S. Ambassador

The American Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle, on Monday said his country was not yet in a position to make the Ebola Disease expe...

Read more »

Good News: Four more Ebola patients discharged – Health Minister

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-9123675465399533183" itemprop="description articleBody" style="position: relative; width: 670px;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbGaVy5JUG5BP9ungzJJDiUYiD-60Up3vFrZHjjLg8UnXEBU0pX93v87ItVjO8A-2UcxmBQA-DTnEOjjNaWaEuNLv73GW1WfsZDuzENJFyO-uGpTxhGEQ0Z1zkLbZAgHLEtWkqj_4vtn4/s1600/NNPC+shuts+clinic+after+suspected+Ebola+case+admitted.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbGaVy5JUG5BP9ungzJJDiUYiD-60Up3vFrZHjjLg8UnXEBU0pX93v87ItVjO8A-2UcxmBQA-DTnEOjjNaWaEuNLv73GW1WfsZDuzENJFyO-uGpTxhGEQ0Z1zkLbZAgHLEtWkqj_4vtn4/s1600/NNPC+shuts+clinic+after+suspected+Ebola+case+admitted.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; border: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="640" /></span></a></div> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Four more patients have been certified clean and discharged from the Ebola Isolation center in Lagos after undergoing treatment for the deadly disease. The four patients include two male doctors, the nurse who had earlier escaped from the isolation center and ran to Enugu and a female patient who was on admission at the time Patrick Sawyer was hospitalized at the First Consultant Hospital.<br /><br />The news of their discharge was disclosed in a statement released today by the Minister of Health, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu and signed by his his Special Assistant on Media and Communication, Mr. Dan Nwomeh. Read parts of the statement after the cut...</span><blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“The Minister of Health Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu has announced that four additional confirmed cases of Ebola Virus Disease who have been managed successfully and are now disease free have been discharged home today. They include two male medical doctors and one female nurse. The three participated in the treatment of the index case while the fourth person was a female patient at the time the index case was on admission. This brings to five the total number of patients diagnosed with Ebola Virus Disease who have now been discharged from hospital.”</span></blockquote> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">On Saturday August 16th, the Health Minister announced that the first Nigerian to be diagnosed of EVD, a female doctor, had been discharged after she was treated and certified cured.<br /><br />The Minister also stated that the total number of cases of the Ebola Virus Disease in Nigeria remained at 12 while the number of deaths from the disease was four and that the number of people under surveillance in Lagos is 189 while in Enugu is 6.</span><div style="clear: both;"> </div> </div> <div class="post-footer" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(102, 0, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; margin: 20px -2px 0px; padding: 5px 10px;"> </div> </div>

Good News: Four more Ebola patients discharged – Health Minister

Four more patients have been certified clean and discharged from the Ebola Isolation center in Lagos after undergoing treatment for the ...

Read more »

Ebola: Mass enlightenment begins in Lagos

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In a related development, the Lagos State Government has warned against environmental pollution such as defecating and urinating in the public, and urged people to embrace proper environmental hygiene standards as a way of curbing the spread of EVD.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Commissioner for the Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello made the call at a “One-day Train the Trainers Programme” organised by the Ministry for Environment Health Officers”, popularly called WoleWole in all the 57 Local Government/LCDAs and Scientific Officers in the State Civil Service, with the theme: Creating an Army of Advocacy to curb Ebola Virus through Effective Enlightenment at the Grassroots.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Bello explained that the State Government has embarked on series of actions to control the spread since the outbreak in Lagos State. To complement other efforts of government, he said the ministry has commenced educative programmes for residents starting with the “Train the Trainer” after which an army of these trained officials will embark on mass public enlightenment campaigns to markets, motor parks, and schools in all the 57 Local Government Council Development Areas to create awareness on how to prevent the spread of the dreaded disease.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Enugu is Ebola free</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Also, following the growing anxiety over possible spread of the EVD in Enugu State, the state government has declared the state free from ebola, just as it explained that at the moment, all those who were suspected to have contact with the nurse who left Lagos for Enugu have been investigated and there was no case of EVD detected.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Precautionary measures</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A statement by the Special Assistant to Governor Sullivan Chime on Health Matters, Mr. Johnny Ezievuo, said even with that assurance, nothing was being taken for granted. “We are taking all precautionary measures to ensure that nothing is left to chance. Interestingly health care delivery is one of the cardinal programmes of Governor Chime’s administration.”</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Ezievuo who stressed the need for people to uphold the practice of good hygiene in their homes, offices or shops as panacea to any disease, however, maintained that all the programmes of the state government were tailored towards the need of the people, saying that citizens have a sense of belonging because it is participatory.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Delta monarch bans burial ceremonies</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In furtherance to the measures being taken against ebola threat, the Ovie of Agbon Kingdom, Ogurimerime Ukori the 1st, has directed that no funeral ceremony be held in the kingdom for now. A statement by the Secretary of Agbon Traditional Council, Chief Emma Avworo, quoted the Agbon Monarch as also banning religious crusades or night vigils in the kingdom.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The statement directed that no corpse should be brought into Agbon Clan and warned everyone in the area to stop the consumption of all forms of bush meat especially bats till further notice.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">TUC tasks Lagos on ebola</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, weekend urged the Lagos State Government to do more to curtail the spread of the deadly ebola disease, especially through massive enlightenment campaigns before it spreads to other parts of the country. TUC in a statement by its President and Secretary General, Bobboi Kaigama and Musa Lawal, respectively insisted that Lagos State had the wherewithal in terms of human and material resources to contain the spread.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">According to the statement, Lagos, being the most populated state and the economic hub of the country, the flurry of activities brings the people in regular contact with one another, thus accentuating the need for intensification of the fight against Ebola.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“To this end, we anticipate that the anti-ebola public awareness campaign should be stepped up, and well-equipped quarantine/treatment centres should be set up at strategic locations within the state. We also counsel the Lagos State Government to engage more professionals, make all necessary consultations with stakeholders both within and outside the country and provide adequate protective measures for medical personnel and other care-givers attending to Ebola-infected persons. The government should also take out life insurance policies in favour of such workers. Indeed no measure that would encourage them in the fight against the ebola menace would be out of place.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />“The Congress specially commends the concerted efforts of Nigerians so far, especially the Federal Government, who have demonstrated clear sense of responsibility and focused responsiveness to the ebola challenge. Nevertheless, we urge Nigerians to remain alert and dutifully observe all healthy practices as are needful to stamp out ebola, including keeping their environments clean, cooking their foods well, regularly washing hands with soap, etc. as health professionals have advised. Surely ebola has not come to stay, but we would do well to speed up its departure.”</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Alimosho General Hospital, Igando</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Meantime, there was a mild drama at the Alimosho General Hospital, Igando, last week when news filtered in that an Ebola patient who came from Pastor T. B Joshua’s Synagogue had died.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As soon as the information made the rounds nurses, and even patients in the wards were said to have hurried out in panic to avoid contracting the virus. However, it took the efforts of the Chief Medical Director and other doctors to convince the people that there was no such case at the hospital.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Responding to the incident, Lagos State Government said there was no reported case of the death of any person infected with ebola at the Alimosho General Hospital, Igando or any of the other government hospitals in the state.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Lateef Ibirogba, in a statement said government dispelled the rumour making the round that an Ebola infected person had died at the government owned hospital in Alimosho.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He said the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris had addressed the issue during the last Ebola Virus Disease update press briefing, where he assured residents of the state that the hospital was safe and medically sound for them to patronize. Ibirogba cautioned the residents against sending unsubstantiated messages through the social media network, adding that the EVD was being properly managed by the state government in collaboration with the Federal Government and other international partners.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“The state has opened an Isolation Ward for the treatment of EVD infected persons where they would be adequately managed by experts in line with the World Health Organisation Standards,” he stated.</span></div> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/08/ebola-mass-enlightenment-begins-lagos/#sthash.tNTYvSS8.dpuf</span></div>

Ebola: Mass enlightenment begins in Lagos

In a related development, the Lagos State Government has warned against environmental pollution such as defecating and urinating in the pu...

Read more »

All-out war on Ebola disease

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">THE dastardly “importation” of the dreaded Ebola Viral Disease (EVD) into Nigeria by the late Patrick Sawyer almost a month ago, has brought out the best in the government and people of Nigeria, surprisingly.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As soon as Sawyer was identified as a possible carrier of the plague, the authorities took proactive steps to establish quarantine facilities.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">They ensured that all those who had made primary and secondary contact with the Liberian were identified and handled professionally.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It has helped to limit the scope of the infection within the populace, though latest reports have it that the number of people infected has skyrocketed to 198 as at press time.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">However, the fact that 177 of these cases were found in Lagos and 21 in Enugu, with all known cases within government quarantine facilities or under strict watch means the situation is still under control. This has got Nigeria commended by the World Health Organisation, WHO.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It is heartwarming that Nigerians met this health emergency eschewing politics, ethnicity and religion, the usual factors that are exploited to cause disharmony among us. Nobody has brought in the issue of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) or All People’s Congress (APC) into the matter.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Lagos State Government has worked harmoniously with the federal. It also took the foresighted step of visiting Prophet TB Joshua of the Synagogue of All Nations Church and successfully reached an accord that nobody carrying the disease should be brought there, either from Nigeria or any part of the world.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The media has played its professional role, devoting a large part of its activities to enlighten the people about the plague and how to take measures to avoid it becoming a pandemic. The federal government has also done exceptionally well with President Goodluck Jonathan taking the lead in ensuring that the disease is controlled.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">However, the situation has not escaped the attention of mischief makers, who have exploited the open social media forums to spread dangerous and false claims, causing widespread panic, particularly in portraying the bathing and topical intake of salt water as a “cure” for Ebola. This has also led to a number of fatalities by those who allowed themselves to be hoodwinked.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">While we commend all Nigerians for standing up together to ward off the Ebola threat, we urge everyone to fully cooperate with the authorities and voluntarily submit themselves and loved ones for medical attention whenever Ebola infection is suspected. The law enforcement agents should also trace and set examples with the mischief makers.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">If we tackle our national problems with the same unity of purpose we have applied to the Ebola scourge, our nation will be the better for it.</span></div> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/08/war-ebola-disease/#sthash.aHnM5tQD.dpuf</span></div>

All-out war on Ebola disease

THE dastardly “importation” of the dreaded Ebola Viral Disease (EVD) into Nigeria by the late Patrick Sawyer almost a month ago, has broug...

Read more »

Nigeria Trains 800 Volunteers to Fight Ebola

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">(AFP) – Nigeria has trained 800 volunteers to help fight the deadly Ebola epidemic that has already claimed four lives in Africa’s most populous country, a regional governor spokesman said Saturday.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Authorities in the country’s largest city of Lagos last week appealed for volunteers to make up for a shortage of medical personnel because of a six-week doctors’ strike over pay.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“People have heeded our call for service,” said Hakeem Bello, a spokesman for Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“We have trained some 800 volunteers in the area of contact tracing, sensitisation and treatment of the Ebola disease.”</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Four people have died and six more infected by Ebola in Nigeria as part of the worst-ever outbreak of the deadly virus, which has killed 1,145 people across west Africa since the outbreak began this year.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Volunteers have so far been deployed to 57 districts of Nigeria, Bello said, adding that more are needed to contain the outbreak, particularly to treat those infected with the disease.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Nigerian doctors have been on strike nationwide since July 1 to demand a payrise and better working conditions.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In response, Lagos’ state government has stepped up a media campaign to raise awareness of how to prevent the spread of the disease, including across radio, television and public health announcements.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Nigeria became the fourth west African country to be hit by the Ebola epidemic last month after Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Athletes from Nigeria have been forced to withdraw from the Youth Olympics in China as a result of the outbreak, Chinese state media reported Saturday.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The International Olympic Committee has barred athletes from Ebola-hit countries from competing in pool events and combat sports.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The disease is spread by contact with an infected person’s bodily fluids such as sweat, blood and tissue and no cure or vaccine is currently available.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The last days of an Ebola victim can be grim, characterised by agonising muscular pain, vomiting, diarrhoea and catastrophic haemorrhaging described as “bleeding out” as vital organs break down.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Nigeria’s first fatality was Liberian government employee Patrick Sawyer, who brought the virus to Lagos, sub-Saharan Africa’s largest city, on July 20. He died in hospital on July 25.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Nigeria has not recorded a case outside Lagos but there were fears that a nurse who contracted Ebola from Sawyer at the hospital may have carried the virus to the key southeastern city of Enugu.</span></div> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/08/nigeria-trains-800-volunteers-fight-ebola-epidemic/#sthash.MFjHoCU4.dpuf</span></div>

Nigeria Trains 800 Volunteers to Fight Ebola

(AFP) – Nigeria has trained 800 volunteers to help fight the deadly Ebola epidemic that has already claimed four lives in Africa’s most po...

Read more »

Important alert from Chinese state media: No, Ebola isn’t a ‘zombie virus’

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="inline-content inline-photo modal-0" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(213, 213, 213); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-width: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img class="zoom-in" data-hi-res-src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/files/2014/08/1548369731371674161_image_982w.jpg" data-low-res-src="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=http://img.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/files/2014/08/1548369731371674161_image_982w.jpg&w=480" src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/files/2014/08/1548369731371674161_image_982w.jpg" style="border: 0px; cursor: -webkit-zoom-in; width: 599px;" /><br /><span class="pb-caption">Now it can be told: This will not happen to you if you are infected with Ebola. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)</span></span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Everybody, calm down. Ebola isn't a "zombie virus." It will not turn you into a member of the living dead.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">That's the message delivered by Chinese state media, in response to the flurry of rumors, online and presumably elsewhere, about the deadly virus that's ravaging West Africa.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://news.sina.com.cn/w/2014-08-09/122530658162.shtml?_ga=1.192885801.243041426.1408113168" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;">A recent article published</a> by the state-run Xinhua News Agency debunks various assertions about the virus.</span></span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">According to <a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/08/13/chinese_internet_rumors_ebola_zombies" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;">a translation from Foreign Policy</a>, some people erroneously believe that once people die from Ebola, they can "unexpectedly reawaken, entering into an extremely violent condition in which they bite any moving object, including humans and animals."</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">False!</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">On the contrary, an expert said, Ebola victims actually get weaker, not stronger, because they lose so much blood. Additionally, coming back from the dead as a zombie (whether of the <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2004/03/dead_run.html" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;">traditional slow or new-age fast variety</a>) "can only happen in the movies," the expert said. Noted.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Another rumor that's taken off in China: You can cure Ebola by drinking coffee mixed with raw onions. Nope! (The aromatic elixir would likely fend off people, yes, but not the deadly Ebola virus.)</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Nonetheless, Chinese officials are on high alert as the worst Ebola outbreak in history rages on. They have declared that passengers arriving from West Africa <a href="http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-ebola-china-20140815-story.html" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;">will go through special channels</a> at China's airports; state media even released a photo of Nigerians being examined by Chinese health workers wearing full-body hazmat suits.</span></div> <br /> <div class="wp-inline-bb pb-centered-bb has-subscribe-promo" id="slug_inline_bb" style="background-position: 123px -398px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; clear: both; float: none !important; height: auto !important; margin: 6px auto 30px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 300px;"> </div> <br /> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"> Ebola has killed more than 1,000 people,  mostly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, and the World Health Organization now says the outbreak's<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2014/08/15/who-toll-of-ebola-outbreak-has-been-vastly-underestimated/" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #2e6d9d; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;" target="_blank">toll has been vastly underestimated</a>.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">China isn't the only place where wild Ebola rumors have spread rapidly; in West Africa, rumors and misinformation have had deadly consequences. Health workers have had to combat the notion among some West Africans<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/07/18/there-is-no-such-thing-as-ebola/" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;">that the virus doesn't even exist</a>.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As for a zombie outbreak, the United States appears to be well-prepared for the walking dead, thanks to the <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/phpr/zombies.htm" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;">Zombie Preparedness Initiative</a> from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.</span></div> <div class="inline-content inline-video" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(213, 213, 213); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(213, 213, 213); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; margin: 20px 0px; padding: 20px 0px;"> <div class="posttv-video-embed" data-processed="1" data-uuid="42186ef0-2487-11e4-8b10-7db129976abb" style="height: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 56.25% !important; position: relative;"> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.washingtonpost.com/posttv/c/embed/42186ef0-2487-11e4-8b10-7db129976abb?e=null" style="height: 356px; left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 599px;"></iframe></div> </div> </div>

Important alert from Chinese state media: No, Ebola isn’t a ‘zombie virus’

Now it can be told: This will not happen to you if you are infected with Ebola. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images) Everybody, calm down. Ebola i...

Read more »

Woman In Scotland Tested For Ebola Virus

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <header class="story__header" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;"><div class="story__standfirst" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; margin-bottom: 40px; max-width: 64%;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Health officials say the woman is being tested as a precautionary measure following the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.</span></div> <div class="last-updated" style="bottom: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 40px; max-width: 40%; position: absolute; right: 0px; text-align: right;"> <div class="last-updated__text" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"> <span class="last-updated__time" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">20:54, UK,</span></span><span class="last-updated__day" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); box-sizing: border-box;"></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span class="last-updated__day" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Friday 15</span> <span class="last-updated__month-year" style="box-sizing: border-box;">August 2014</span></div> </div> </header><div class="story__content-outer-wrapper" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; padding: 0px 332px 0px 0px; width: 992px;"> <section class="story__media" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="module module--primary" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; width: 660px;"> <div class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 25px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--16x9" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 371px; position: relative;"> <img alt="" class="image__item js-responsive" data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="144x81 362x204 762x428 942x530 1600x900" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/8/328183/default/v2/453249452-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/8/8/328183/default/v2/453249452-1-1600x900.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(220, 220, 220); box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 371px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 660px;" /></div> </div> </div> </section><div class="story__content-wrapper" style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <div class="share" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 4px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;"> <ul class="share__list" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <li class="share__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px 16px 16px 0px; padding: 0px; width: 40px;"><a class="share__link js-share" href="https://twitter.com/share?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.sky.com%2Fstory%2F1319397%2Fwoman-in-scotland-tested-for-ebola-virus" style="background-position: 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(220, 220, 220); box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 2.5rem; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; width: 2.5rem;" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;"><span aria-hidden="true" class="skycon skycon--twitter share--icon" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; overflow: hidden; speak: none; text-decoration: inherit; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline; width: 38px;"></span></span><span class="a11y" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); display: inline-block; height: 1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute !important; text-align: left; width: 1px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Share on Twitter</span></span></span></a></li> <li class="share__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px 16px 16px 0px; padding: 0px; width: 40px;"><a class="share__link js-share" href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=http://news.sky.com/story/1319397/woman-in-scotland-tested-for-ebola-virus&t=Shared%20from%20Sky%20News:%20Woman%20In%20Scotland%20Tested%20For%20Ebola%20Virus" style="background-position: 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(220, 220, 220); box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 2.5rem; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; width: 2.5rem;" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;"><span aria-hidden="true" class="skycon skycon--facebook share--icon" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin-top: -1px; overflow: hidden; speak: none; text-decoration: inherit; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline; width: 38px;"></span></span><span class="a11y" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); display: inline-block; height: 1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute !important; text-align: left; width: 1px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Share on Facebook</span></span></span></a></li> <li class="share__item" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px 16px 16px 0px; padding: 0px; width: 40px;"><a class="share__link js-share" href="https://plus.google.com/share?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.sky.com%2Fstory%2F1319397%2Fwoman-in-scotland-tested-for-ebola-virus" style="background-position: 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(220, 220, 220); box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 2.5rem; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; width: 2.5rem;" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;"><span aria-hidden="true" class="skycon skycon--google-plus share--icon" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; overflow: hidden; speak: none; text-decoration: inherit; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline; width: 38px;"></span></span><span class="a11y" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); display: inline-block; height: 1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute !important; text-align: left; width: 1px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Share on Google+</span></span></span></a></li> <li class="share__item share__item--last" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px 16px 16px 0px; padding: 0px; width: 40px;"><a class="share__link" href="mailto:?to=&subject=Shared%20from%20Sky%20News:%20Woman%20In%20Scotland%20Tested%20For%20Ebola%20Virus&body=Shared%20from%20Sky%20News:%20Woman%20In%20Scotland%20Tested%20For%20Ebola%20Virus%20http%3A%2F%2Fnews.sky.com%2Fstory%2F1319397%2Fwoman-in-scotland-tested-for-ebola-virus" style="background-position: 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(220, 220, 220); box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 2.5rem; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; width: 2.5rem;"><span style="color: black;"><span aria-hidden="true" class="skycon skycon--mail share--icon" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; overflow: hidden; speak: none; text-decoration: inherit; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline; width: 38px;"></span></span><span class="a11y" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); display: inline-block; height: 1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute !important; text-align: left; width: 1px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Share by email</span></span></span></a></li> </ul> </div> <section class="story__content" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 80px; max-width: 100%; min-height: 18.75rem; position: relative;"><div class="story__intro" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A female detainee who became ill at an immigration removal centre is to undergo tests for the Ebola virus.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The woman, understood to have arrived from Sierra Leone, was being held at Dungavel Detention Centre in South Lanarkshire.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A spokesman for NHS Lanarkshire said: "We are currently investigating a possible case of Viral Haemorrhagic Fever (Ebola).</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"This is a precautionary measure and it would appear at this stage to be highly unlikely the patient will test positive for Ebola."</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A Home Office spokesman said: "We do not comment on operational matters."</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The case comes amid growing international concern about the <a href="http://news.sky.com/story/1319044/ebola-epidemic-is-like-war-time-says-msf" style="background-position: 0px 0px; border-bottom-color: rgb(203, 203, 203); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Ebola outbreak in West Africa.</span></a></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">More than 1,000 people have died and almost 2,000 suspected, probable or confirmed Ebola cases have been recorded there.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Health experts say they are struggling to contain the epidemic, which started in Guinea last March.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It has since spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Ebola is transmitted by direct contact with the body fluids of a person who is infected.</span></div> <div> <br /></div> </section><section class="partner-links" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 60px; max-width: 540px; overflow: hidden;"><div class="partner-links__external" style="box-sizing: border-box;"> </div> </section></div> </div> </div>

Woman In Scotland Tested For Ebola Virus

Health officials say the woman is being tested as a precautionary measure following the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. 20:54, UK, Fri...

Read more »