by S’ola Filani
The Federal government has declared the Ebola outbreak in Nigeria a matter of national Emergency as everyone is now at risk of being infected.
Addressing the House of Representatives Committee on Health, Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, said the outbreak had taken a dimension of a national emergency and urged Nigerians to treat it as such.
Describing the situation in the country as bad, the health minister said Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian, credited with bringing Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) to Nigeria, ‘knew he was sick’ with the virus before entering the country.
The minister revealed that Sawyer disregarded instructions by Liberian health authorities not to travel out of the country.
The Minister advised Nigerians to avoid handshake as much as possible, stating that the virus is both contagious and infectious. He also said the virus could also be contacted through the sharing of bedspreads, pillow cases and towels among other personal effects with infected person.
He said the disease is not airborne but at close range of a 1meter from an infected person, the disease droplets can be transmitted.
The Minister also revealed that Isolation tent for each confirmed case cost the government as much as N20million.
He disclosed that seven Nigerians, including one dead, were already diagnosed with Ebola.
As part of strategies to rise to the national emergency, Chukwu said a website, www.ebolaalert.org, has been designed to offer information on the virus.
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