Ebola: Lagos Sets Up Treatment Centre, Says No Cause For Alarm

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines, News From The State Friday, July 25th, 2014

Following the death of Patrick Sawyer, a Liberian who died of Ebola Virus Disease in Lagos, the state government says it has set up treatment centre for possible cases of infection with the disease, saying there is no cause for alarm as government is on top of the situation.

Briefing newsmen on Friday evening in Lagos, Nigeria, Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris said the centre is located at the Lagos State Secretariat, Alausa.

Idris officially confirmed that the 40-year old man died of Ebola Virus after being tested positive to the disease at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), saying that the confirmatory test is still being awaited from Dakar, Senegal.

“The patient, we heard, had died over night and ever since then, we have tried as much as possible to contain the spread, we need to sanitize, we need to treat the body properly, we need to dispose -off the body properly and those are the things we are working out right now. These are the processes we need to follow which we are following and we are doing this in conjunction with Federal Ministry of Health staff.

“There is a protocol, the people involved, we are talking with the hospital involved, the staff over there, after dealing with the body, we have to deal with the hospital, to sanitize the hospital , more importantly, too there is the need for us to do contact tracing. We are doing that with the World Health people, we are going to trace all the contacts that the man came in with on the air plane, where they went to.

“Since we have got the manifest now, we are going to trace all of them, each one of them is going to be questioned, and there is protocol to follow for questioning. They are going to be followed in the next 21 days to see if any one of them develops any symptoms. This is what we are in the process of doing,” Idris stated.

He said government would ensue that the borders were well manned to ensure that people infected with the disease were not allowed into the country, adding that “people are manning the borders, seaports, airports in Lagos. The state government is in contact with Federal Government officials in charge of this.”

Idris added that the Centre for Disease Control Prevention, CDC, in America “has stepped in to volunteer, UNICEF has step in, we have contact screening centre set up, we have the Federal Ministry of Health assisting us with laboratory. All stake holders are involved. We are confident that the step we are taking will stop further propagation of the disease.

“We plead with the media not to spread scary message so as not to spread panic, we have everything under control to ensure that it does not spread beyond what it is presently. You have to ensure proper hand washing, if you know anybody who has travelled to Liberia where the viral is established, report to us, we will set up treatment centre for probable symptoms.”