The death recently in a Lagos hospital of an American of Liberian descent, Patrick Sawyer, infected with the dreaded Ebola virus ignited panic concerning the possible outbreak of the pandemic in Nigeria. On Monday, one of the doctors who treated the American is also reported to have contracted the virus. Pessimists argued that Nigeria with its disheveled medical infrastructure, patchy health statistics and cascading urban population is a sitting duck for the disease.
Indeed the World Health Organisation warned recently that the entire West African sub-region is at risk.
Commendably, however, the federal government as well as the Lagos State government swung to action to allay fears, through public education, and by taking preventive measures such as quarantine of the victim and all who had contact with him. Noticeable too, is the recent vigour displayed by the Lagos State government in visiting Pastor T.B. Joshua’s church, The Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), in order to confirm or debunk an online publication that some Ebola patients were being treated by him.
According to a United States department’s alert, the suspected reservoirs for the virus are fruit bats. It is transmitted to humans mainly through infected bats or animals that have become infected by these bats through the consumption of poorly cooked infected bats or bush meat. In contrast to sensationalised versions of the human-to-human transmission of the disease, the bulletin maintains that only through physical contact with the person who is gravely ill with the virus will migration take place across two humans. The statement, however, confirms the deadly status of Ebola by informing that incubation of the virus and the journey from well-being to severe illness takes on the average ten days. Interesting too, is the disclosure that the virus is easily killed by contact with soap, bleach, sunlight or drying, emphasising thereby the importance of regular hand washing with soap.
Government is taking steps, happily, to institute checks and screening at our major airports and seaports. This must be intensified, however, given the rapid flow of traffic between Nigeria and our neighbouring West African states where the virus is currently rampaging. Of importance too is the need to pay attention to our borders as the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, recently alerted. As is well-known, Nigeria’s borders are notoriously porous featuring close to 1,500 illegal routes through which smugglers, terrorists, undocumented immigrants sneak into the country. While it is logistically extremely difficult to police all the illegal entries, we should re-double effort to protect Nigerian citizens from contamination by citizens of other countries who may be carriers of the disease. Ordinarily, persons entering the country are expected to carry an international health certificate also known as Yellow Card; it is doubtful, however, if this requirement is rigorously enforced.
The need to disseminate accurate information concerning the disease and possible remedies, if they exist, cannot be overstated. Pandemics travel around widely in situations of ignorance concerning early symptoms, preventive actions or access to timely medical attention.
For example, the resemblance between the disease and Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever, that was pointed out recently by the Minister of state for Health, Dr Kaliru Al-Hassan, is not known to many Nigerians and indeed pinpoints a gap in public health education concerning the symptoms of Ebola.
Similarly, health experts should devise mechanisms spanning all media genres from traditional to social media as avenues of public enlightenment. It may also be necessary for our scientists to investigate the oft-stated claim that there is no cure for Ebola.
Pertinent in this connection is the recent intervention by Professor Maurice Iwu that local de-toxicants such as Kola nut can cure the disease. While such a claim may not be accepted at face value, it should spark off a wave of researches which will determine its validity or indeed the herbal properties of similar local products such as bitter kola, cashew nuts, among others.
It must be emphasised that in such a struggle as this, the need to mobilise the auspices of civil society against the disease and its possible spread cannot be gainsaid. True, in placing on high alert all Nigerian port health posts and border medical centres for the purpose of screening travelers from countries with confirmed Ebola cases, government has demonstrated good sense. It is important, however, that citizens across all social strata be mobilised to, for instance, report early signals as well as refuse to be in denial concerning the onset of Ebola in the nooks and crannies of the country. In other words, we must be united against the possibility of a mass occurrence of the disease in a largely illiterate and medically under-resourced country such as Nigeria. Here again, the price of survival is eternal vigilance.
