The Federal government has declared the Ebola outbreak in Nigeria a
matter of national Emergency, adding that everyone is now at risk of
being infected.
Speaking with State House correspondence at
the end of today's Federal Executive Council meeting, the Minister of
Health, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu said the Nigerian government has written
to the Director of the United State Centre for Disease Control to
request for the release of some of the unapproved ZMAG drug which has
proven to be useful in the treatment of the Ebola disease. He said the
Federal government awaits a response from the United state government
and hopeful if the drugs are released, they could be used to treat the
confirmed cases of the Ebola virus disease in Nigeria. Continue...
The Minister advised Nigerians to avoid handshake as much as
possible, stating that the virus is both contagious and
infectious. He also said the virus could also be contacted through the
sharing of
bedspreads, pillow cases and towels among other personal effects with
infected person. He said the disease is not airborne but at close range
of a 1meter from an infected person, the disease droplets can be
transmitted.
The Minister also revealed that Isolation tent
for each confirmed case cost the government as much as N20million. As regards
the corpse of a Nigerian brought in from Liberia last week into Anambra
state which caused Ebola scare in the state, the Minister
said thorough examination on the corpse showed the man did not die of
the deadly disease.
As part of strategies to rise to the national emergency, Chukwu said a website,
www.ebolaalert.org, has been designed to offer information on the virus.
