•Twitter users lash out at CNN for Mis-labelling Nigeria

 

The death of a nurse, one of the primary caregivers who attended to the late Liberian, Patrick Sawyer, has triggered panic in the medical field especially amongst the remaining seven patients who have shown symptoms of the Ebola virus. A medical official, who made this known yesterday, said currently, the news of the death of the nurse, had dampened the morale of other victims, who hitherto had been living on words of encouragement and hope that a vaccine would cure them.

 

The source, who spoke to THISDAY but did not want to be named, said with the death recorded yesterday, the destructive effects of the virus had finally sunk in.

 

She said: “Although the medical field rightfully panicked when the identity and effect of the virus was first unveiled, there was always this part of us that still lived in disbelief. “It was thought the virus would be contained before it claims the caregivers that attended to Sawyer but with recent development, I can tell you that we are panicking. Already, this news has not helped the morale of the others who are affected. “It’s a wake-up call that the same fate that claimed the nurse might also claim the other surviving seven. Currently, we are working our lines for help. We are that desperate.

 

“The other seven are still in an isolated ward here in Lagos and now we are extremely careful to ensure their caregivers are not exposed to their body fluid secretions so that it does not spread as well. “We are also monitoring their families to ensure they did not contract the virus during the few days they spent with them before the identity of the virus was ascertained. “We have a huge task on our hands and that is why we are calling on all stakeholders to join hands to limit the spread of this virus and contain it to its immediate environment.”

 

Also concerned about the spread of the virus, the Lagos Zone of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) yesterday said it had begun sensitisation campaign for Nigerians and training for its personnel.

 

Speaking to THISDAY, the South-west NEMA Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ibrahim Farinloye, said already, a multi-sectoral coordinating meeting on Ebola Virus Disease Response and Management has been scheduled to hold in Lagos. He said: “We organised this meeting because NEMA has the mandate to monitor the state of preparedness of all agencies and institutions towards effective and efficient emergency management in Nigeria.”

 

Meanwhile, social media buffs on Twitter, yesterday lashed out at Cable News Network’s (CNN) for mis-labelling Niger as Nigeria in their list of high-risk Ebola-infected countries.

 

CNN had in its news report on the spread of Ebola in some West African countries, said there were 1,603 cases, 887 deaths and 55 per cent fatality rate.

Using the red colour to highlight the high-risk countries, CNN had wrongly mapped out Niger as one of the countries hit by the virus, which infuriated both Nigerians and foreigners, who quickly pointed out the error to the network.

A tweet from one Taiwo Odusote read, “Apparently, CNN doesn’t know where Nigeria is,” while another user, Gimba Kakanda said, “Dear CNN, the area you marked Nigeria is actually Niger. Nigeria is in the area below it. Get a map reader please.”

 

Yet another twitter user, Temi Ige said, “Yeah, so CNN doesn’t know where Nigeria is…that’s actually really worrying.”

 

A foreigner, one Matthias Kohler also said, “CNN, that’s not Nigeria with the red, correct the map, reminds me of the time CNN mistakenly labelled Brazil as Hong Kong.”

 

By Chiemelie Ezeobi