The Ebola Nightmare

By: George Ekwuribe
08139381449
gekwuribe@gmail.com

Nigeria and indeed Africa have at one time or the other witnessed the outbreak of some life threatening diseases, such as, cholera, malaria, sars, gonorrhea and a whole lot including HIV/AIDS. These epidemics at their eruption cause panics among the people. The government steps in as expected, the citizenry take precautions, international bodies lend hands both in research and in the fight, well to do citizens, companies, and non-governmental-organizations add their quota and of course, the media makes headlines, setting agendas for its audiences.
But of the various pandemics afore witnessed, none has ever been as nightmarish as the deadly Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). For almost two months now, news bulletins of media houses both print and electronic seem incomplete without a headline dedicated to Ebola; discussions even on streets cannot go without a word of Ebola; boarding the normal commercial buses (danfo) in Lagos is now a thing of strong faith and bravery, as passengers try hard to avoid contact with fellow commuters for fear of Ebola; at the inception, bankers were seen in bank halls and across the counters guarded up with masks and hand gloves; even at fast-food joints, the case is same with the bankers, just that at entry, you are served with drops of sanitizers on your palm; in churches and mosques, sermons do not reach the borderline without a reference to Ebola, in fact ushers at entry into some church auditoriums like the fast-food places, serve members with drops of sanitizer to avoid transfer of  the virus; even jokes have been generated from Ebola by comedians. “The gospel of Ebola is spreading like wild fire” a friend of mine opined some days ago, and I really concur.
It is no longer news that the birth of Ebola in Nigeria was as result of a Liberian-American traveller by name, Patrick Sawyer, who without business intentions imported the deadly virus into Nigeria from Liberia by air travel. It was reported that Mr. Sawyer flew into Nigeria via Lome and Accra from Liberia, and on arrival in the city of Lagos, became violently ill and died five days later.
After Mr. Sawyer, several other people (both his primary and secondary contacts) including the health workers who treated him in the hospital where he died were kept under close surveillance. An update on the EVD in Nigeria as at September 3rd, 2014 by the Minister for health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, confirmed that the total number of confirmed Ebola cases in the country is 18. The 18th confirmed case is the sister of the late Port Harcourt doctor, and the number of cases successfully managed and discharged is 8. Prof Chukwu also noted that 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 on Tuesday 2nd September, confirming the 9th survivor as the ECOWAS Commission official who jumped surveillance in Lagos and travelled to Port Harcourt. The minister further confirmed that the total number of deaths from the disease in Nigeria was seven. He further debunked rumours of EVD cases outside Lagos and Port Harcourt.
However, the EVD outbreak of 2014 which was detected in Guinea and later Liberia, Sierra Leone, Senegal and Nigeria is seen to be the greatest of all Ebola pandemics in history right from when it was first recorded in 1976 in Zaire (now Republic of Congo) where the disease was named after a river known as Ebola River. From March 2014, at least over 3000 people have been infected with over 1500 deaths across West Africa.
Amidst great fear for the EVD, a lot has been said about how it is contracted and how it can equally be prevented. At a time, some said mere sight of an infected person is capable of transferring the virus, others claimed Ebola is air-borne. Also in prevention, it went viral at a time that bitter cola cures and prevents Ebola. It was also claimed that a bath with warm water and salt is a remedy to contracting the virus. At those times, bitter cola and salt sellers I believe smiled to the bank as their goods became rare commodities and was high in demand.
Be that as it may, contrary to the various notions on how EVD is contracted and prevented, health experts say it is spread through contact with a person who is infected. Blood and bodily fluids of an infected person, such as sweats, saliva and semen contain large amounts of virus. For prevention, experts have also identified various measures. For health workers handling infected persons: wearing of protective clothing (such as masks, gloves, gowns and goggles); using infection-control measures (such as complete sterilization and routine use of disinfectant); isolating patients with Ebola from contact with unprotected persons. And for the general populace: practice careful hygiene, avoid contact with an infected person’s blood or bodily fluids; avoid funeral or burial rituals that require handling the body of someone who has died from Ebola; avoid contacts with bats and nonhuman primates or blood, fluids and raw meat prepared from these animals; avoid hospitals where Ebola patients are being treated.
Howbeit, the government both at the federal and state levels in conjunction with international bodies, NGOs, companies, well-to-do Nigerians, the media and others have shown great concern to seeing that this scourge is curbed. But a permanent antidote for EVD in Nigeria, Africa and the world at large cannot be realizable if it is regarded as a West African or African plague alone. The world must unite in one common harmony against this deadly threat to mankind. Health campaigns should be taken to all nooks and crannies and to people who are at risk of contracting the virus. Governments of all African countries must work hand in hand to see to it that the dispersal is abridged.
Hence, the Nigerian government should not relent in its efforts to ensure that the EVD is truncated, so as to relieve its citizenry of the fear and nightmare it has suffered. Every related body must be synergized to form a strong force against this epizootic to stop further spread across the nation.
In addition, the people of Nigeria have a vital role to play as well. Every person should adhere to safety measures and precautions proffered by the government and health experts, as we pray, believe and hope that EVD will become a thing of the past in Nigeria, Africa and the rest of the world, just like other outbreaks which in the past caused panics, but later received impressive management mechanisms for victims.