Virus claims ECOWAS staff as nurse exports disease to Enugu
A member of staff of the West African regional body, ECOWAS, has become the third person in Nigeria to die of Ebola fever, ECOWAS said yesterday. Jatto Asihu Abdulqudir, 36, a protocol assistant, had travelled to an ECOWAS function in Nigeria with the late Liberian Patrick Sawyer, the man who brought Ebola to Nigeria last month. Abdulqudir later fell ill and had been placed under quarantine.
The country has reported eight cases of Ebola since Sawyer arrived on July 20.
“The Commission wishes to reassure staff of all community institutions all over the entire region that it is taking all necessary steps to guarantee their health and safety,” Ecowas said in a statement.
Separately, a nurse who had had close contact with Sawyer skipped quarantine in Lagos and headed to her home in Enugu, where she had contact with 20 other people, the government said yesterday.
Information Minister Labaran Maku said the nurse, herself a suspected case, and her 20 contacts were all under surveillance in Enugu, bringing the total number being watched in the country to 198. Her action higlights the risk of an outbreak in Lagos.
“One of the nurses that was involved with the treatment of the index case, unfortunately, disobeyed medical instructions and somehow travelled to Enugu,” Maku told reporters after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan.
“We are calling on citizens to cooperate. If health workers say you have had contact with A,B,C, don’t move to anywhere, respect that judgement.”
The disease has killed more than 1,000 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in the world’s worst outbreak of Ebola, and the World Health Organization has called it an international emergency.
Meanwhile, 198 persons have been isolated in the country with 177 cases in Lagos alone, while Enugu State accounts for 21.
Maku said: “The Enugu incident came as a result of one of the nurses who had contact with the late American-Liberian, Patrick Sawyer in Lagos, who due to her stubbornness, defied government’s instruction and had to travel to Enugu.”
He urged those already affected to report themselves voluntarily to help curtail the spread of the deadly virus.
“This is just a preventive measure to make sure that they can have the advantage of immediate observation. We know that there is no cure, but we can boost their immunity as there is probability that early report can save their lives.
“So, we are urging Nigerians, please help us. Apart from those who made contact with the index case and the secondary contacts, there had been no probability of other Nigerians who contracted the disease”, he said.
Maku noted that the two persons that have so far died from the disease, apart from moving swiftly to deal with the issue, the country is doing everything necessary to contain the virus from further spreading to other persons. “Every state must do whatever is necessary to  prevent people from contacting and transmitting the virus to other parts of the country”
The government has appealed to Nigerians, especially victims of the virus, to heed instructions of health workers on how best to manage the infection.
He said the Federal Government had begun sensitization of Nigerians long before the index case was recorded in the country and warned those who have contacts with the victim to obey government directives to limit their movements to reduce the spread of the disease. He noted that the warning became necessary to halt further spread of the virus.
He said the Federal Government has advised the international community on the need to avoid anxiety over the existence of the dreaded EVD,  saying that Ebola is not endemic in Nigeria.
He expressed concern over the anxiety, especially among the international community and organizations doing business in the country, assuring that Nigeria is dealing with the disease.
The minister traced the index case in Nigeria to Sawyer, who defied his home government directives on the disease, but instead brought the virus to Nigeria.
Maku disclosed that the measures taken by Nigeria had passed the tests of the international organizations operating in the country, including the American International Agencies for Disease Control, the World Health  Organization, WHO, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, UNICEF and other bodies.
According to him, even a Nigerian who went to Canada and was quarantined, was found to be negative, adding that “the international organizations need not panic as government was making strong efforts to put the situation under control. “The measures we have put in place show professionalism and confidence to ensure that this virus does not spread beyond where it is today”
Maku said so far, only the Sawyer’s case and the secondary cases that followed have been witnessed in the country, adding that Nigeria would have been Ebola-free, but for the defiant Liberian.
He noted that the government committee made up of several agencies and other stakeholders have been working hard to deal with the disease in the country and therefore, there was no need for the anxiety.
Maku, while commending  the media for their efforts in helping government contain the spread of the disease, however, cautioned against reporting unverified claims. He said the government was working with transport owners and their operators to prevent the transmission of the virus through the land borders.
According to him, the government has dispatched health workers to all points of entry into and out of Nigeria, adding that there has been no new case of the virus through the borders.
Maku said the government has provided protective materials including isolation tents.
Maku also warned those spreading unverified and dangerous rumours that are capable of damaging public health, saying they are liable to be prosecuted. “Let me warn that any one who spreads dangerous rumours that are capable of causing harm to public health is liable to prosecution. We will find you and prosecute you, be cautioned.”

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