Another Liberian certified with Ebola virus in Lagos !

Few weeks after a Libe­rian, Patrick Sawyer, brought the Ebola virus disease (EVD) to Nigeria, another Liberian with the deadly virus has been detected in Lagos.

This was disclosed yesterday morning by a Senior Registrar with Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbo­bi, Lagos, Dr Akindele Akintayo while speaking on a television programme in Lagos.

He said the Liberian has been kept at the Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH) in Lagos. Dr Akintayo said, however that the hospital authorities were yet to confirm if the victim had a contact with the late Mr Sawyer or not.

Recall that the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu on Tuesday announced the death of Dr Ameyo Adadevoh, one of the doctors that treated the late Sawyer at First Consultant Hospi­tal, Lagos. But, the Lagos State Government has denied that an­other Liberian with the Ebola vi­rus had been discovered in Lagos.

The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, while ad­dressing newsmen at Alausa, Ikeja, yesterday, debunked the story, saying no such develop­ment occurred. He also confirmed that five fresh suspected cases had come up, saying: “Till date, we have recorded 8 suspected cases, 5 of which came in yesterday, 12 confirmed on the whole, five have died. We are currently following up 213 contacts and 63 have com­pleted the 2-day follow-up.”

The commissioner regretted the death of Dr Stella Adadevoh, the Senior Consultant/endocrinol­ogist at First Consultant Hospital, who led the team that attended to and treated Nigeria’s first index case, Liberian Patrick Sawyer.

According to him, it was the late Adadevoh, “who took the initiative to intimate the ministry concerning the index case and substantially to her credit the moderate containment achieved is owed. She led the team who at­tended to the index case. Her dog­gedness and commitment to duty saw her personally reviewing the case even though the patient had earlier been seen by a doctor.

“No doubt, she and the other affected health workers are the heroes and heroines of the day.”

He also commiserated with the families, friends and co-workers of all affected persons.

Responding to concerns being raised about infected persons who had been discharged after recov­ering fully from the Ebola virus, Idris said: “I wish to reassure you that the discharge process was in line with the WHO international health regulations and they are still being followed up, “adding that there was no record of per­sons who had recovered from the virus attack and showed symp­toms later.

Lagos Records Five New Suspected Ebola Cases from Sawyer Contacts

The Lagos State Government yesterday disclosed that its contact tracing team had discovered five additional suspected cases of Ebola virus, which were brought in on Tuesday, adding that it had not foreclosed new cases.
Of the new unconfirmed cases discovered in the state, the state government said three had primary contact with the Liberian-American, Mr. Patrick Sawyer, while two others were secondary contacts.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, gave the update at a news conference he addressed at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre, Alausa, Lagos, alongside his Special Duties and Information and Strategy counterparts, Dr. Wale Ahmed and Mr. Aderemi Ibirogba, among others.

The health commissioner explained that the five new cases “have been referred to the isolation centre located at the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) in Yaba” for further clinical check-up and treatment.
Idris said: “To date, we have recorded eight suspected cases. Five of the suspected cases came in on Tuesday. Twelve cases had been confirmed earlier and five died. We are currently following up 213 contacts and 62 have been discharged.”

The commissioner clarified that one of the two isolated confirmed patients had already been discharged on Tuesday, thereby bringing the number of patients at the isolation centre to six.

Of the three patients at the centre, Idris said one of them, Dr. Stella Shade Ameyo Adadevoh, died Tuesday night; another one, a Liberian national, had been discharged; and the last patient was still under observation.
The commissioner paid tribute to Ameyo Adadevoh, who he said was the senior consultant endocrinologist at First Consultant Medical Centre, Obalende, Lagos, describing her response to the index case as heroic.

He said: “It was Dr. Ameyo Adadevoh, who took the initiative to intimate Lagos State Ministry of Health concerning the index case – Liberian-America, Mr. Patrick Sawyer – and substantially to her credit to whom the moderate containment is owed.

“She led the team who attended to the index case. Her doggedness and commitment to duty saw her personally reviewing the case even though the patient had earlier been seen by a doctor. No doubt, she and the other affected health workers are the heroes and heroines of the day.”

The commissioner extended the condolences of the state government to the families, co-workers, friends and loved ones of the affected health workers for their irreparable loss, which occurred in the line of duty.

He however reiterated the government’s strong commitment to contact tracing throughout the period of the Ebola outbreak, acknowledging that the strategy had already started shifting from primary to secondary contacts.
He urged the residents of the state “to be vigilant, especially with regards to people who are ill. There is nothing to panic about as long as basic precautionary measures (hand washing, adoption of proper waste management and enhanced personal and environmental hygiene) are adhered to”.

When asked if the state government had received support from the N1.9 billion intervention fund approved by the federal government to fight Ebola in Nigeria, the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy said the state had not received a dime.

He said: “May be the federal government will release funds later. But we are grateful for all the federal government has done, giving us technical support in the fight against the virus, releasing their staff for contact tracing, case management, operation of the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) and the rapid response team.
“This is a collaborative effort between the federal, state government and other foreign partners. As at now, we are yet to receive money from the federal government.”

Ibirogba explained that the money spent so far on the health of the Ebola victims were funds released by the state governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, to combat the disease.

Also, at another forum, Idris said the state government had begun to explore other options to find a cure for the virus. This, he said, was necessitated by the US’ statement that it had not produced the experimental drug for the virus in large quantities.

He said the option “being considered in the search for a cure for the virus is collecting and examining the antibodies possessed by the patients for possible prospect in the search for a cure.

“The patients were admitted into the isolation centre based on the result of tests conducted on them. But after treatment, they survived the virus. And the test conducted on them again showed negative.”

He restated that the treatment given to the patients was based on the symptoms they showed, adding: “There is an urgent need for more virologists for the fight against the deadly virus. The Ebola patients do not behave like normal patients.
“The activities within the isolation centre are very crucial. One has to understand the protocol, even if one has the expertise in managing patients. For Ebola cases, there is specific training one has to go through.
“One of the measures is that the safety of the people must be considered paramount. This is because the slightest mistake from any of the health officials, can result in his or her infection.”