The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi
Chukwu, has put the total number of confirmed cases of Ebola Virus
Disease in Nigeria at 18. The 18th patient, according to the Federal
Government, is the sister of the late Port Harcourt doctor who died of
the EVD recently.
A statement issued on Wednesday night by
his Special Assistant (Media and Communication), Mr. Dan Nwomeh, said
the number of cases successfully managed and discharged was eight while
the number of deaths from EVD was seven.
Chukwu also debunked rumours of EVD
cases outside Lagos and Port Harcourt, adding that, “regarding the
rumoured case in Zaria, the blood sample has been sent for Ebola
testing.”
He said, “The total number of confirmed
cases of Ebola Virus Disease in Nigeria is now 18. The 18th confirmed
case is the sister of the late Port Harcourt doctor. The total number of
cases successfully managed and discharged is now eight.
“The last case to be discharged, the
first secondary contact to be diagnosed and a spouse of a primary
contact of the index case, went home from the isolation ward in Lagos
yesterday (Tuesday). The 9th survivor is the ECOWAS Commission official,
who jumped surveillance in Lagos and travelled to Port Harcourt, where
he infected the doctor who attended to him.
“The total number of deaths from Ebola
Virus Disease in Nigeria is now seven. One, the index case occurred in a
private hospital in Lagos four in the Lagos isolation ward; one in the
Port Harcourt isolation ward (the female patient who was on admission in
the same hospital where the late Port Harcourt doctor was also
admitted), while another one was the doctor who was infected by the
ECOWAS Commission official in Port Harcourt and who did not come under
the care and management of the Incident Management Committee.
“The total number of EVD patients
currently under treatment is two, one in the Lagos isolation ward and
another one in the Port Harcourt isolation ward.
“The total number of contacts currently
under surveillance in Lagos is 41, while Port Harcourt is 255. The total
number of contacts discharged in Lagos after they were observed for 21
days is 320.”
The minister also debunked rumours of EVD cases outside Lagos and Port Harcourt.
These include the three reported cases in the Federal Capital Territory and one case in Calabar.
He also debunked the story that the body
of the late Port Harcourt doctor was transported to Edo or Delta,
saying the body had been decontaminated and would be interred in Port
Harcourt.
Meanwhile, the Kaduna State Government
on Wednesday said contrary to media report that the result of the
suspected Ebola patient at the Ahmadu Bello Teaching Hospital, Zaria,
confirmed to be negative, was not true.
The state said it had yet to receive any result regarding the suspected Ebola patient as reported.
The State Commissioner of Health, Dr.
Thot Dogo, who spoke to newsmen shortly after attending the State
Executive Council meeting at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim Government House,
Kaduna on Wednesday, said the Lagos laboratory, where the blood sample
of the patient was taken to, had not released the test result.
The commissioner stated this just as the
Chief Medical Director of the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching
Hospital, Prof. Khalid Lawal, denied receiving any Ebola patient in the
hospital.
He said there was no iota of truth in
the reports that a 19-year-old student of the Faculty of Law, Ahmadu
Bello University, Zaria, was admitted because he was suffering from the
dreaded disease.
The CMD said, “I can’t confirm it because we don’t have any test result. We are not taking chances but it is unlikely.”
The commissioner assured the people of the state not to panic as the government was on top of the situation.
Source:Punch Newspaper.
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