- Title: NIGERIA: Nigeria records another Ebola case in oil city, 16 cases in total
- Date: 1st September 2014
- Summary: ABUJA, NIGERIA (SEPTEMBER 1, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF NIGERIA'S HEALTH MINISTER AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS SEATED AT CONFERENCE PRESENTATION AT CONFERENCE VARIOUS OF HEALTH COMMISSIONERS SEATED AT CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) NIGERIA'S HEALTH MINISTER, ONYEBUCHI CHUKWU, SAYING: "Now, as of yesterday the 31st August 2014, the number of contacts under surveillance in Lagos stood at 72. So 72 contacts are still under surveillance in Lagos, while in Port-Harcourt the total number of contacts under surveillance stands at 199." VARIOUS OF MILITARY OFFICERS SEATED WITH HEALTH COMMISSIONERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) NIGERIA'S HEALTH MINISTER, ONYEBUCHI CHUKWU, SAYING: "So presently as I speak, one case of Ebola virus disease, a third degree contact is being treated in Rivers state. Two other contacts of the late Port-Harcourt doctor; that is one of the doctors who managed him and the pharmacy technician working for the doctor are symptomatic, but as at yesterday when they were tested, both of them were negative but because they tested . . . they are symptomatic, because they are symptomatic, they are under quarantine." VARIOUS OF HEALTH OFFICIALS SEATED DURING CONFERENCE LAGOS, NIGERIA (SEPTEMBER 1, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS SEATED AT PRESS BRIEFING BY LAGOS STATE GOVERNOR (SOUNDBITE) (English) LAGOS STATE GOVERNOR, BABATUNDE FASHOLA, SAYING: "Whilst we understand and fully appreciate the humanitarian concerns that propel these things, the real problem is the sufficiency of experienced virologists and Ebola specialists in managing this, and when the sub-region, as it were, is challenged on many fronts that capacity thins out, and that really is the problem. So it's not always, and at this time, it isn't a money problem, it isn't really an equipment problem, it is a human capacity problem. And we are at the stage where, as I said before, we do not need to panic, the Ebola virus is not an automatic death sentence." PROTECTIVE ITEMS ON DISPLAY BOTTLES ON HAND SANITIZER BOTTLES AND SIGN READING (English): "ANTI-VIRAL" PROTECTIVE MASK YELLOW BOOTS FASHOLA POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS WITH PROTECTIVE ITEMS
- Embargoed: 16th September 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Nigeria
- Country: Nigeria
- Topics: Health
- Reuters ID: LVA6N6ES5Y3HNKBXG5KWCODXXDH7
- Story Text: Nigeria has a third confirmed case of Ebola disease in the oil hub of Port-Harcourt, bringing the country's total confirmed infections to 16, with around 200 people under surveillance according to the health minister.
Nigeria has a third confirmed case of Ebola disease in the oil hub of Port-Harcourt, bringing the country's total confirmed infections to 16, with around 200 people under surveillance, the health minister said on Monday (September 1).
A doctor in Port-Harcourt died last week after treating a contact of the Liberian-American man who was the first recorded case of the virus in Africa's most populous country.
That raised alarm that Ebola, which looked on the verge of being contained in the commercial capital, Lagos, may flare up again elsewhere.
Patrick Sawyer, the first case, travelled in to Nigeria from Liberia, then collapsed at Lagos airport on July 20.
The shift of the Ebola epidemic to Port Harcourt shows how easily containment efforts can be undermined.
Nigeria's government acted quickly at the end of July, setting up an isolation ward and monitoring contacts closely.
But one of Sawyer's contacts in Lagos avoided quarantine and traveled east to Port-Harcourt.
He has since recovered from the disease, but he infected the doctor who treated him, who then died of Ebola.
A third case in the oil city was a female patient in the same hospital as the doctor and caught the disease from him.
Nigeria's Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said at an emergency meeting with state health commissioners in Abuja on Monday that 72 people in Lagos, a city of 21 million people, were still under surveillance.
"Now as of yesterday the 31st August 2014, the number of contacts under surveillance in Lagos stood at 72. So 72 contacts are still under surveillance in Lagos while in Port-Harcourt the total number of contacts under surveillance stands at 199," Chukwu said.
"So presently as I speak, one case of Ebola virus disease, a third degree contact is being treated in Rivers state. Two other contacts of the late Port-Harcourt doctor; that is one of the doctors who managed him and the pharmacy technician working for the doctor are symptomatic," the health minister said, although he added that preliminary tests had been negative for Ebola.
Addressing journalists at a briefing in Nigeria's commercial city on Monday, the Lagos state governor Babatunde Fashola said that the problem tackling Ebola lay with a lack of experts before reassuring the public.
"Whilst we understand and fully appreciate the humanitarian concerns that propel these things, the real problem is the sufficiency of experienced virologists and Ebola specialists in managing this, and when the sub-region, as it were, is challenged on many fronts that capacity thins out, and that really is the problem. So it's not always, and at this time, it isn't a money problem, it isn't really an equipment problem, it is a human capacity problem. And we are at the stage where, as I said before, we do not need to panic, the Ebola virus is not an automatic death sentence," Fashola said.
The outbreak of Ebola in West Africa is the world's worst ever. It has killed at least 1,550 people, and the World Health Organisation says it could infect 20,000 more. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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