Okada riders could be at risk in the spread of the Ebola virus, through body contacts with those who commute via commercial motorcycles, the Medical and Health Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN), has said.

 

In a statement signed and made available yesterday, the MDCAN’s president Dr Steve Oluwole and assistant secretary-general, DR A Adesokan, faulted government’s prevention approaches that lay emphasis only on handshakes and contact with body fluids of those who have tested positive for the Ebola virus which has so far claimed over 900 people in the West African sub-region.

 

The association warned that, “Approach of prevention, which centred on avoidance of handshakes, ignores that the modes of transportation in Nigeria, which include crowded buses and motor bikes encourage intimate body contacts that exceed handshakes.”

 

By Victor Okeke and Juliet Alohan, winifred ogbebo