The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu announced Thursday that a South African national who showed symptoms of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) has been quarantined in Lagos.
Special Assistant to the minister on Media, Dan Nwomeh said efforts are ongoing to investigate the South African national.
He stated that “a South African national suspected of showing symptoms of Ebola at the international airport was quarantined at the isolation ward in Lagos while her case is being investigated.”
The suspected South African Ebola patient arrived the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos from Casablanca, Morocco.
When she arrived she was tested with infrared to check her temperature like any other passenger but her temperature was high, so she was immediately isolated.
The Port Health officials took the form she filled about her health status while inflight and learnt that she had worked in Guinea and Sierra Leone and the medics acted swiftly and took her away to the centre to confirm if she has the disease.
The suspicion that she might have the disease became strong when shortly after her isolation she started vomiting; that sent shivers of fear to both passengers and workers at the arrival hall of the airport, including the medical personnel.
The Lagos state head of Port Health, Dr Morenike Alex-Okoh, confirmed that the woman had been in Guinea and Sierra Leone since April and that she had manifested the symptoms of Ebola at the airport.
The minister also explained that the alleged rumour of a possible outbreak of Ebola in Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) had been found out to be negative.
Chukwu also stated that “the suspected case of Ebola at OAU Ile-Ife has turned out negative after investigation.”
There was panic in the university during the week after a female student who felt sick confessed of having contact with the Port Harcourt doctor. – Thisday.
