Now, Nigeria is a FUNNY COUNTRY. WHY CANT WE PUBLISH THE PASSENGER MANIFEST OF THIS AIRLINE, SO PEOPLE CAN TRACE THE AFFECTED PASSENGERS? SMH Chuks Onugha wrote on Ebola: While checking information on the case of Ebola in our dear country, I stumbled across some more worrisome data. 1. Mr. Sawyer was a 40yr old finance consultant with the Liberian Ministry of Finance. He was in a Nigeria to attend a conference. 2. His younger sister had died in early July (barely 3wks ago) from the dreaded Ebola HF and he had been in close contact with her. He took ill shortly before travel and his doctor advised him against traveling but he did not take it. He felt the conference in Lagos was more important. 3. He came to Nigeria on a commercial flight along with about 200 other passengers. The plane made a stop @ Lome before continuing to Nigeria. His symptoms worsened while on the flight to Nigeria. Among his fellow passengers were about 35 Nigerians. 4. He submitted himself voluntarily to Nigerian medical authorities who took him to First Consultants Hospital in Obalende, Lagos for medical treatment. It was while in hospital that he had the first episodes of vomiting and diarrhea (some of the initial most contagious bodily effluents). 5. The 35 Nigerian co-passengers on the flight fled the airport immediately they heard the guy could have been infected with Ebola. There is now a nationwide manhunt for these Nigerians so that they can be quarantined along with other passengers on that flight. The airline authorities and airport authorities have not made public, the passenger manifest. 6. Meanwhile, airline, airport and hospital staff who had come in close contact with My Sawyer are currently in quarantine. About 60 of them. 7. The incubation period for the manifestation of symptoms is between 7-14days. 90% of infected patients died around day 21 of infection. 8. Many have advocated the use of hand sanitizers and frequent baths as measures that can prevent the disease. The truth is, these offer only an infinitesimal level of protection against it. Many health personnel who have been involved in treating Ebola patients in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia have died after contacting the virus, among whom were the chief Ebola specialist in Sierra Leone and 3 of his nurses, a reputable Liberian doctor and an American doctor volunteering with an NGO in Liberia. These people followed the strictest health protocols, wore protective gear and yet, still got infected. I bet it wasnt from lack of regular baths and the use of hand sanitizers. About 100 medical personnel are among the 660 patients who have died among the 1,100 patients recorded so far. My people perish for the lack of knowledge. This saying is true and worthy of full acceptance. The only thing worse than a lack of knowledge is knowing the wrong type of information and believing it to be true. While the government of Nigeria and WHO are doing everything possible to contain the spread of Ebola (like sealing the hospital and quarantine of 60 possible contacts of Mr. Sawyer), we all need to be extraordinarily careful these days. Until the 35 passengers on the flight are contained, we are all still @ risk. In fact, the whole world remains at risk. International travellers from affected countries (now including Nigeria) have to be tested for Ebola before boarding a plane or ship. Every traveller with signs of any illness will be quarantined at the airport or seaport and must be tested for Ebola before boarding. If you can avoid traveling in public vehicles for now, please do so. If you can personally take your children to school and back in your own car, please do so for now. The best prevention remains avoiding contact with the virus as long as is humanly possible. This is a RED ALERT! The spread through infected meat is still unlikely in Nigeria for now but remains a real threat if our containment efforts are not effective. Every state in Nigeria should be proactive and set up their our containment protocols in case of any reports. Medical personnel should be brought up-to-date on these protocols as we are the most @risk. Like NACA and SACA, action committees on Ebola need to be in place everywhere. What of our motor parks? There should be a higher intensity of efforts there because most Nigerians are land travellers. May God continue to protect us all.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 19:59:22 +0000
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