FG Confirms 10 Ebola Cases In Nigeria, 177 Quarantined

Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, has said at a news conference that 10 persons have been confirmed with the deadly Ebola Virus Disease, EVD.

Speaking in Abuja on Monday, the Minister also disclosed that no fewer than 177 people are presently under surveillance to ascertain if they have contracted the virus.

Chukwu stated that, “The Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Health and its agencies, works very closely with the World Health Organization, WHO, UNICEF, the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, local authorities and other international partners to further deepen and broaden these containment efforts.”

He commended President Goodluck Jonathan for approving the National Ebola Virus Disease Emergency Containment Plan within the initial 48hrs of the death of the first Nigerian from EVD, with immediate cash backing of N1.9bn.

“We shall single out the WHO and the CDC for special commendation for their understanding and continuous support in this challenging moment; particularly for the partnership and most importantly for the capacity building of our Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC),” he added.

Speaking further, the Minister said, “At the sub regional level, the EVD was discussed as a substantive agenda during the Summit of the Authority of Heads of State and Government on the 9th of July 2014 in Accra Ghana.

“Nigeria played, as usual, its leading, pioneering and compassionate role during the Summit with the first and only donation of 3.5m USD humanitarian and capacity-building aid to the three affected countries of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, the West African Health Organization (WAHO), and the ECOWAS Ebola Fund.”

Furthermore, Chukwu noted that the “Liberian Government has expressed its deepest sympathies and regrets that Mr. Sawyer had even embarked on this tragic journey, which has brought needless sufferings, death and has placed an unnecessary stress on our health system.  In the same spirit, we share in solidarity, the grief of the governments and people of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone as we confront this challenge together.

“Finally, I wish to reiterate that, the Federal Government of Nigeria, shall continue to discharge its responsibilities within the sub region as we collectively confront and stop this outbreak of Ebola.”

Nigeria recorded her first case of Ebola through a Liberian-American, Patrick Sawyer, who later died in Lagos. He was a financial consultant who was placed under surveillance in Liberia for a suspected case of the virus, but evaded the authorities in Monrovia and entered a plane to Lagos, hoping to attend a two-day event put together by the ECOWAS Commission, and later travel to the US via Atlanta Georgia to celebrate his daughter’s birthday.

One of the nurses that treated him later died.