Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, said in Abuja on Tuesday that only the spouse of a doctor, who had died of the Ebola virus disease, was now being treated at the isolation centre in Lagos.
Chukwu, who addressed journalists in company with his counterpart in the Ministry of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, said that a male doctor and a female nurse, who had primary contacts with the late Liberian, Patrick Sawyer, had been discharged on Monday.
The minister said, “Nigeria has only one confirmed case of EVD, a secondary contact of Patrick Sawyer, and she is the spouse of one of the physicians who participated in the management of the index case.
“She is stable but still on treatment at the isolation ward in Lagos. So far, all the reported cases of the EVD in Nigeria have their root in the index case, the late Sawyer.
“This is an indication that, thus far, Nigeria has contained the disease outbreak.”
He denied reports that a younger sister of the late Dr. Ameyo Adadevor had been infected with the virus, noting that out of 13 confirmed cases so far in Nigeria, five persons, including the late Sawyer, had died while seven had been successfully managed and discharged.
The minister urged Nigerians to avoid panic because the outbreak of the disease was from a single source while those who had primary or secondary contact with him were all in Lagos State alone.
He added that 129 people who were placed under surveillance had been cleared, having exceeded the 21-day maximum incubation period without showing the symptoms of the EVD.
He also explained that 128 other people were currently being observed until they would exceed the incubation period.
“Only one person out of those under surveillance at the moment is symptomatic. We are investigating. The result is not yet out. All the others are not symptomatic,” the minister explained.
Chukwu appealed to Nigerians not to stigmatise victims of the EVD who had been treated and discharged from isolation but embrace them and welcome them back into the society, stressing that they should be celebrated as heroes and heroines.
The minster clarified that the N1.9bn that the Federal Government approved was strictly for the Federal Ministry of Health based on the budget that it submitted and that it was not tagged as Ebola Fund.
He said, “I heard that in some places, even village heads are asking for their own share. Nigeria is only interested in sharing money. It is not Ebola Fund.”
ABUJA: Training Schedule for Basic Life Support BLS, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support ACLS, First Aid, CPR, AED
PORTHARCOURT: Training Schedule for Basic Life Support BLS, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support ACLS, First Aid, CPR, AED
LAGOS: Training Schedule for Basic Life Support BLS, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support ACLS, First Aid, CPR, AED
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