EBOLA: S-African passenger quarantined in Lagos

LAGOS—A South African, suspected of showing symptoms of Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, as she arrived Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos yesterday, has been quarantined at the isolation ward in Lagos.
The female passenger, Folswe Elizabeth Maria, on board Royal Air Maroc, from Morocco was on transit and was said to have taken ill at the transit area of the airport after using the toilet. The case was immediately reported to officials of the Port Health Services who used the Infra-red Thermometre to test her and discovered that she had high temperature. The passenger was later taken to an isolation centre and kept under observation by Port Health officials.
It was further gathered that the woman had worked previously in two Ebola Virus Disease-prone countries of Guinea and Sierra Leone, thus fuelling suspicion that she could have contracted the disease.
The sources said:
“The passenger, who is from South Africa, came aboard Royal Air Maroc. She followed normal processes even at the Nigeria Immigration Service. She is a transit passenger and she was at the transit lounge where she went to drink and thereafter felt uneasy; went to the toilet and on coming back, she fell ill. The case was reported to the Port Health Service officials who immediately examined her.”
A statement signed by the Special Assistant on Media and Communications to the Minister of Health, Dan Nwomeh said: “The South African national suspected of showing symptoms of Ebola at the international airport (Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos) was quarantined at the isolation ward in Lagos while her case is being investigated”.

NAFDAC warns against fake test kits

Meanwhile, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has warned Nigerians not to fall prey to fake test kits for Ebola disease. Director-General of NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii, who raised alarm over circulation of the fake test kits and sanitizers in the market, cautioned Nigerians to be careful.
Orhii gave the warning while briefing the media on his return, yesterday, from an emergency meeting summoned by World Health Organisation, WHO, for health authorities of member nations in Geneva to find lasting solution to Ebola virus and some vaccines clinically being evaluated with very high prospect of combating the disease.
He said: “Nigerians must be vigilant because some unscrupulous elements have started exploiting the Ebola virus scare to market counterfeit test kits and sanitary products.”
Orhii, however, expressed optimism that there was a great promise that some drugs and vaccines could be found soon to contain the virus.
“We have some Nigerian remedies that we are looking at very closely and after investigation, we hope that they will be able to help check the Ebola virus. So Nigerians do not need to panic,” he said.
He reiterated that Ebola virus was not a death sentence in Nigeria as, according to him, the Federal Government, through the efforts of the Federal Ministry of Health, had managed the situation effectively and halted the rampaging spread of the disease.
“Nigerians are full of commendation and appreciation to President Good luck Jonathan and the Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, for effectively containing the Ebola virus through prompt deployment of adequate funds, material resources and personnel to strategic places,” he said.
The NAFDAC boss further noted that Nigerians were proud of the current efforts of government, saying many countries were learning from the methods and strategies adopted by Nigeria to combat the Ebola menace.
He, therefore, appealed to Nigerians in Diaspora to feel free to visit home as the threat of the deadly disease had been effectively contained by the government.
OAU bars foreign students from returning for current semester
Management of Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, yesterday, barred foreign students of the institution from returning for the current semester to prevent the spread of the Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, to the university. This came as the institution said no student would be allowed into the university’s campus until after proper screening.
The management took the decision following the report that a female student of the university showed symptoms of EVD.
At a briefing on the update of the EVD case, Vice Chancellor of OAU, Professor Bamitale Omole, said: “Foreign students of OAU have been asked to stay back for the session; those around who have not gone out of the country have been screened. As of now the reported lady is Ebola free.”
Meanwhile, Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State, has stressed the health and security challenges posed to any country by the EVD scourge.
The governor, who, convened a state Security Council and stakeholders meeting on prevention of EVD, insisted that any country under the scourge risked losing its sovereignty.
He said: “We should not see the disease as an ordinary health challenge but a situation that can be seen as a security problem for a state or a nation. That is why I have called all the security chiefs and all stakeholders to this meeting. I am happy that we now have a big relief in the state against the rumour of the virus in the state. God forbid it, I have been troubled since the news broke out.
How could we have coped with the little resources of the state? You should now go out to tell the world that there is no Ebola in Osun and that we will prevent its manifestation here at all cost.
“With all these countries around us, such as Liberia, Sierra-Leone, Guinea and Congo, we need to support them because they are too close for the comfort of our country, ” Aregbesola said.