There was tension, on Thursday, in Anambra State, as the state
government raises the alarm over suspected Ebola-infected corpse flown
from Liberia to the state through Lagos.
The
Anambra State Ministry of Health, on Thursday, announced that there are
fears in the state that the dreaded Ebola disease might have sneaked
into the state through a corpse deposited in Apex Mortuary, Nkwelle
Ezunaka, Oyi Local Government Area, at the weekend.
It was gathered that the corpse was deposited at one of the morgues
at the weekend and already over 50 persons in contact with the corpse
had been quarantined until epidemiologists from Federal Ministry of
Health certifies them free.
The state government, through the state Ministry of Health,
immediately ordered for temporal closure of the hospital until the staff
and patients, including the deceased family members, were screened by
the epidemiology unit of the Federal Ministry of Health.
Speaking to newsmen in his office, the state Commissioner for Health,
Dr Josephat Akabuike, disclosed that the corpse was flown into the
state at the weekend, adding that the state had collected all the
necessary preventive garments to protect the virus from spreading.
“We had a report that a corpse was brought into the state through
Lagos and the deceased was said to be taken from Liberia, where there is
a several reported cases of ebola virus disease.”
The commissioner also informed that the state government had
instituted a rapid response team, saddled with the responsibility of
responding to emergencies, revealing that the state governor, Chief
Willie Obiano, had ordered for the acquisition of 400 personal protective
equipment to protect the health workers in the state.
He urged all residents to call the following emergency numbers,
08030890440 or 08030864502 anytime there was a suspected case of Ebola
disease in their area.
US issues travel warning to 3 African countries
The United States (US), on Thursday, issued travel warnings for three
countries hit by the Ebola outbreak: Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The warning to avoid non-essential travel from the Centres for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was the first the agency has issued
since 2003, which was in response to SARS in Asia.
Kolanut can cure it —Prof Maurice Iwu
According to a research, led by Professor Maurice Iwu, head, the
Bioresources Development and Conservation Programme, a plant, commonly
eaten in West Africa, Garcinia kola has been found to halt the deadly
Ebola virus in its tracks in laboratory tests.
If repeated in humans, this would give the body a chance to fight off the virus.
They used a compound from Garcinia kola, a plant. Compounds from the
plant have also proved effective against some strains of flu.
If the anti-Ebola compound proves successful in animal and human
trials, it will be the first medicine to successfully treat the virus
that causes Ebola haemorrhagic fever, an often-fatal condition.
The discovery was announced at the 16th International Botanical Congress in St Louis in the United States of America in 1999.