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Ebola: Health Specialist Says Nigeria Is Not Yet Safe

A Public Health Specialist, Simbo Davidson, says that Nigeria cannot yet categorically say that it has no cases of the Ebola virus disease in Nigeria. … Continue reading Ebola: Health Specialist Says Nigeria Is Not Yet Safe


Dr DavidsonA Public Health Specialist, Simbo Davidson, says that Nigeria cannot yet categorically say that it has no cases of the Ebola virus disease in Nigeria.

Speaking on the Friday edition of Channels Television’s Sunrsie Daily, she said that the declaration of the health authorities that there had been no cases yet was as it concerned transmission via the entry, treatment and the death of a Liberian Ebola victim in Lagos for which several people had been screened for possible contact.

Therefore, there were still possibilities that other carriers of the virus might have entered the country through other means asides the airports which the authorities were focusing on, particularly through the country’s land borders that experience a lot of human traffic between the West African countries.

She highlighted the need to focus on providing screening facilities at Nigeria’s land borders, as it remained one of the most likely channels through which the virus could spread. She gave a reminder that body fluids like sweat could transmit the virus and this was highly possible through contacts as simple as sitting together in a bus.

On the view in some quarters that there had been too much panic as the outbreak might have been exaggerated, she disagreed, saying rather that Nigeria was actually underrating the virus, an act which she said was very dangerous.

Highlighting the possibility of under-reporting of the disease, she noted that the number of casualties represented that of reported cases only and this meant the situation could be worse as many victims do not get to the hospital before they die.

She cited the example of South-Africa and the outbreak of a similar disease in 2008. She recalled that the country did not wait to verify its discovery of a scientifically proven cure for the virus but went ahead to use it in order to save its citizens and the proactive decision turned out to be the solution.

She said that there was need for Nigeria to engage in better planning to control the spread of the disease, as there was need to have more screening and isolation centres in every Local Government Area.

There had been reports that the Ebola virus can be cured by the consumption of Kolanut, but Dr. Davidson dismissed the claims as she explained that there was no scientific evidence for the claim. She, however, noted that there had been advanced research into a possible anti-viral cure in a Helsinki University and she expected African countries to be more proactive to explore such opportunities as South Africa did.

She maintained that the strategies taken by many of the countries was not effective, explaining that the fact that it had started crossing borders showed a failure of their approach.

The actual origin of the Ebola virus also came to the fore and Dr. Davidson said that the actual source of the virus cannot be verified yet as many animals have been mentioned including monkeys and some rodents.

She also explained that trying to clear out the animals would be a wrong strategy to engage in controlling the disease, as there was no actual population of animals that can be gathered together and killed.

She noted that the Ebola virus cannot be likened to the Avian Flu that is transmitted by poultry animals which are usually together in a farm.

Dr. Davidson recommended improved hygiene and early testing for every symptom as one of the best ways to control the disease from spreading in Nigeria.

For the countries with already pronounced outbreaks, she provided a number of recommendations including a ban on parties, social gatherings or other situations that would gather several people together.

She also warned against unnecessary visits to the homes of people who had fallen sick as one might not know the actual nature of the illness. She added, “Let’s stop shaking hands if possible.”