Deadly Ebola Virus: The Threat Has Become Real In Nigeria

New cases of Ebola infection in Nigeria worsen the fear of many. Two weeks after the deadly Ebola Disease claimed its first victim in Nigeria - Patrick Sawyer, a Liberian, who died in a private hospital at the Obalende area of Lagos – another victim has tested positive to it.

The Health Minister, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, confirmed this on Monday, sending waves of fear through the polity. The minister, while breaking the news to journalists in Abuja, described the latest victim as one of the doctors who quarantined and treated Sawyer at the private hospital before he died about a week later.

The development has further deepened the fear of the Ebola virus and its possible spread among the millions of people resident in Lagos State and beyond. The logic of the scare is simple: If doctors, to whom ordinary people would run to, are that helpless, what will be the fate of patients?

Unfortunately, many believe, the Federal Government was not proactive enough. They believe that ever before the deadly incursion of the virus from Liberia, the government ought to have acted decisively since reports of Ebola-inflicted deaths were spread in neighbouring countries. One of the options should have been closing some of the country’s borders. But even until now, such a measure has not been taken.

Indeed, such people sadly remember the government’s initial reaction through the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, who boasted that Nigeria was super ready for the disease. He [Maku] went as far as saying the government had some vaccines ready for the disease. Nigeria thus expect Maku to bring out the taunted drugs now that Ebola is real.

The infection of the doctor, just a few days after attending to Sawyer, and the deaths of over 700 victims of the virus within three months of its rampaging presence in West Africa, have thrown a scare so real that it has left many Nigerians confused and, at the same time, worried about what desperate measures to apply to contain its possible spread in the country.

The sad and unnerving event has not only sent tremulous shock waves across the country, it has also triggered off anxiety and panic over the highly contagious nature of the virus.

One of the factors that appear to heighten the fear of the EVD among the people is the absence of a known cure for the virus, as well as its capacity to spread among large numbers of people within a very short time.

More Nigerians are suddenly conscious of their vulnerability to this virus and the fact that their position is further weakened by the lack of adequate health care services in many parts of the country. This reality has, within the last few days, given rise to general discussions around the subject of a possible cure or antidotes for the EVD.

Acting on mere speculation, many people have been trying hard to shrug off the approaching disaster with an unusual belief in the efficacy of the bitter kola as an antidote for the virus. Indeed, it is clear that the curative properties of the bitter kola has not been medically determined, it is common to find groups of people moving around with packs of the herb in their pockets.

Also, desperate to prevent a devastating outbreak of the virus, especially in densely populated areas, the Federal Government and the Lagos State Government have made efforts to introduce measures to curb its likely spread among the people.

Perhaps to demonstrate its seriousness towards finding a solution to the Ebola scare in the country, the FG on Monday, through the health minister, inaugurated a treatment research group comprising Prof. Shingu Gamaliel, Prof. Innocent Ujah and Prof Maurice Iwu, as well as some officials from the Centre for Disease Control.

The group’s duty is to carry out treatment research, receive and verify treatment claims, as well as advise government on issues relating to the Ebola Virus Disease in Nigeria.

Government’s effort at this stage, no doubt, is geared towards preventing the spread of the killer virus in the country. But there is need for an urgent and more result-oriented strategies that should be aimed at effectively preparing the health sector for the task at hand.

While it is true that many Nigerians across all walks of life are beginning to show in different ways that they are aware of the potentially devastating impact of the EVD, a lot of people, especially those living in the rural areas, will need to be persuaded to discard traditionally backward habits and attitudes that could expose them to deadly virus.

Meanwhile, there is an indication that a cure for the EVD may likely be announced soon. An online report said recently that three top secret, experimental vials stored at subzero temperatures were flown into Liberia last week in a last-ditch effort to save the American missionary workers who had contracted Ebola, according to a source familiar with details of the treatment.

CNN reports that a representative from the National Institutes of Health contacted Samaritan’s Purse, the aid organisation both Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol worked for in Liberia, and offered up the experimental treatment, known as ZMapp

The drug was developed by the biotech firm Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc. According to company documents, four monkeys infected with Ebola and then given the therapy within 24 hours had survived. Two of four monkeys that started therapy within 48 hours also survived, while one that was not treated died within five days of exposure.