The recent outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in the Democratic Republic of Congo calls for vigilance from the nation’s health authorities. Already, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed cases of the disease in the central African nation where it has claimed three lives.
The global health body also confirmed 11 suspected cases, including the three reported deaths in Likati, in the country’s northern Bas-Uele Province. The report said one victim had tested positive for an Ebola strain earlier seen in the country. WHO announced that the first infection was contracted by a male on April 22, 2017, some 870 miles from the capital, Kinshasa. The agency is already working with the Congolese authorities to contain the disease. Available information from WHO shows that the virus causes acute illness and is often fatal, if untreated. The virus first appeared in 1976 in two simultaneous outbreaks, one in what is now Nzara, South Sudan and the other in Yambuku, DR Congo.
The latter occurred in a village near the Ebola River, from which the disease derives its name. The 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa was the largest and most complex since its emergence with more cases and deaths than all others put together. The epidemic killed about 11,325 people. It later spread to Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria.
Nigeria experienced an Ebola outbreak in July 2014 when a Liberian-American, Patrick Sawyer, who was infected with the disease, flew into the country via Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. He infected some of the medical personnel who attended to him in a Lagos hospital and died five days later. Nigeria was able to contain the disease and was subsequently declared Ebola-free by WHO.
Therefore, it is good that the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, has directed port health officials nationwide to step up health inspection at the nation’s ports. Adewole also enjoined Nigerians not to panic as the government is committed to ensuring that Ebola is not brought into the country again.
Also, the management of the Federal Airports Authority (FAAN) has assured Nigerians of adequate surveillance at the nation’s airports. It said that all preventive measures put in place at the airport are still intact, adding that port health officials are at high alert at all Nigerian airports.
In the same vein, Nigerian doctors under the umbrella of Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) have urged the Federal Government to strengthen its response team and increase surveillance at the nation’s borders. The doctors pledged their readiness to work with the Federal Ministry of Health to achieve yet another feat in the prevention and control of the contagious disease.
We enjoin the government to take this matter seriously. It must step up measures to ward off the disease. It should do those things that it did during the first outbreak of the disease in the country in 2014. There is need to emphasise the use of hand sanitisers, frequent washing of hands and observance of public hygiene at all times. There should also be intensified vigilance at all our borders—air, land and sea. It is important that health teams apply universal basic precautions in patients’ care. They should also employ standard protocols of management and reporting of all suspected cases of the disease.
All the ministries of health in the country should embark on public enlightenment on the symptoms of the disease. All suspected cases of the disease must be promptly reported to the health authorities and those down with unexplained fevers should consult the nearest health facility for urgent treatment.
We need to make frequent washing of hands and maintenance of public hygiene routine. It should not be only when there is an alarm over a disease outbreak. Special attention should also be paid to hygiene in schools. All hands must be on deck to prevent another Ebola outbreak in Nigeria.