Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, Monday said all the patients who had tested positive to the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) and currently undergoing treatment at the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba, were in “stable condition”.
The governor also explained that while the health status of the victims of the deadly virus had not deteriorated, five of them were “really improving,” adding, “Ebola is not an automatic death sentence.”
However, the governor’s positive news on the Ebola patients coincided with the confirmation by the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, that another Nigerian, a nurse, had tested positive for the virus, while 177 primary and secondary contacts of the index case had been placed under surveillance or isolation.
Even as the minister gave the update on the efforts by government to contain the virus, it was revealed yesterday that a letter written by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) had asked the health ministry to take timely and proactive measures against the deadly disease but it failed to do so.
This is just as President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday described the actions of Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian national who escaped quarantine after contracting the Ebola virus in his home country and travelled to Lagos, as “pure madness and craziness”.
Fahsola, who gave the situation report on the response of the Ebola victims to treatment at different meetings with religious leaders, chairmen and health workers of the 57 local councils in the state, said two deaths – the Liberian and the nurse had been recorded.
“We now have 10 persons in isolation that are receiving treatment. Eight of them have been confirmed positive for the Ebola Virus Disease. We are still waiting for the results of the remaining two persons.
“All of them are stable, which means that they are not deteriorating. Five of them have really improved. This means they are fighting back. It confirms that Ebola is not an automatic death sentence if we do the right thing at the right time,” he said.
At the meeting with religious leaders, Fashola urged them to be honest with their congregations about the deadly virus, warning that Ebola was “not something to be ashamed of. This is a disease and it is a disease one can fully recover from if the right thing is done”.
He explained that high temperature was the first sign of the disease, but not every person that presented a high temperature had been infected with the virus. “High temperature can be as a result of malaria or typhoid fever,” he said.
He also spoke on the dangers of not tracing all those who made contact with Ebola victims, saying if nine persons were traced and one escaped, thousands of people would still be at risk until the 10th person is found.
