Dear Friends, On behalf of the Organisation of African Youth for Development and Peace, I want to express our profound solidarity with everyone across the world where there is an incident of Ebola particularly some of our West Africa countries from Guinea where its said to have originated from, to Sierra leone, Liberia and Nigeria. There has been lots of miss informations about the disease Ebola, thou it is know to be a Contagious disease caused by a virus of the family Filoviridae, Ebola virus is an aggressive pathogen that causes a highly lethal hemorrhagic fever syndrome in humans and non-human primates. First recognized near the Ebola River valley during an outbreak in Zaire in 1976, outbreaks have occurred in Africa in the ensuing 27 years, with mortality rates ranging from 50 to 90%. Outbreaks have been identified yearly for the past 3 years in central Africa, the most recent of which continues in the Republic of the Congo, with more than 125 fatalities to date according to the World Health Organization. The natural host for Ebola virus is unknown, so it has not been possible to implement programs to control or eliminate viral reservoirs of transmission to human populations. The rapid progression of Ebola virus infection has further complicated the control of this disease, affording little opportunity to develop acquired immunity. There is currently no antiviral therapy or vaccine that is effective against Ebola virus infection in humans. Hence the miss information, confusion and misccomunications have added more to the burden to stop the spread of the virus, than the virus itself. So many people have expressed reservations travelling to/from affected countries in the last few weeks. However, according to the World Health Organisation, the risk of transmission of Ebola virus disease during air travel is low. Unlike some other infections such as influenza or tuberculosis, Ebola is not spread by breathing air (and the airborne particles it contains) from an infected person. Transmission requires direct contact with blood, secretions, organs or other body fluids of infected living or dead persons or animals, all unlikely exposures for the average traveller. Travellers are, in any event, advised to avoid all such contacts and routinely practice careful hygiene, like hand washing people are also encourage to avoid too crowded environments. The risk of getting infected on an aircraft is also small as sick persons usually feel so unwell that they cannot travel and infection requires direct contact with the body fluids of the infected person. Our heart goes out to one of our own, An heroine Dr. Ameyo Stella Adadevoh, the Nigerian doctor who contracted the virus while diagnosing the first ebola case in Nigeria and raised the alarm to avoid further spread of the disease in Nigeria, All of us at OAYDP pray for the family that May God grant them the fortitude to bear the lost. We also stand with all our brother and sisters across Africa and the world who have loss a friend, brother and loved one during this period, we at OAYDP, we share in you pain. We want to assure the general populace that with continuous awareness about the disease and the national response deployed from the affected countries and volunteers across the world, the spread of the virus will be curtailed and eventually terminated in the coming weeks. Olaleru, Ibikunle. F Director of International Affairs Organisation of African Youth for Development and Peace.
Posted on: Sun, 24 Aug 2014 11:06:32 +0000
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