The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, has put the
total number of confirmed cases of Ebola Virus Disease in Nigeria at 18. The
18th patient, according to the Federal Government, is the sister of the late
Port Harcourt doctor who died of the EVD recently.
A statement issued on Wednesday night by his Special
Assistant (Media and Communication), Mr. Dan Nwomeh, said the number of cases
successfully managed and discharged was eight while the number of deaths from
EVD was seven.
Chukwu also debunked rumours of EVD cases outside Lagos and
Port Harcourt, adding that, “regarding the rumoured case in Zaria, the blood
sample has been sent for Ebola testing.”
He said, “The total number of confirmed cases of Ebola Virus
Disease in Nigeria is now 18. The 18th confirmed case is the sister of the late
Port Harcourt doctor. The total number of cases successfully managed and
discharged is now eight.
“The last case to be discharged, the first secondary contact
to be diagnosed and a spouse of a primary contact of the index case, went home
from the isolation ward in Lagos yesterday (Tuesday). The 9th survivor is the
ECOWAS Commission official, who jumped surveillance in Lagos and travelled to
Port Harcourt, where he infected the doctor who attended to him.
“The total number of deaths from Ebola Virus Disease in
Nigeria is now seven. One, the index case occurred in a private hospital in
Lagos four in the Lagos isolation ward; one in the Port Harcourt isolation ward
(the female patient who was on admission in the same hospital where the late
Port Harcourt doctor was also admitted), while another one was the doctor who
was infected by the ECOWAS Commission official in Port Harcourt and who did not
come under the care and management of the Incident Management Committee.
“The total number of EVD patients currently under treatment
is two, one in the Lagos isolation ward and another one in the Port Harcourt
isolation ward.
“The total number of contacts currently under surveillance
in Lagos is 41, while Port Harcourt is 255. The total number of contacts
discharged in Lagos after they were observed for 21 days is 320.”
The minister also debunked rumours of EVD cases outside
Lagos and Port Harcourt.
These include the three reported cases in the Federal
Capital Territory and one case in Calabar.
He also debunked the story that the body of the late Port
Harcourt doctor was transported to Edo or Delta, saying the body had been
decontaminated and would be interred in Port Harcourt.
Meanwhile, the Kaduna State Government on Wednesday said
contrary to media report that the result of the suspected Ebola patient at the
Ahmadu Bello Teaching Hospital, Zaria, confirmed to be negative, was not true.
The state said it had yet to receive any result regarding
the suspected Ebola patient as reported.
The State Commissioner of Health, Dr. Thot Dogo, who spoke
to newsmen shortly after attending the State Executive Council meeting at the
Sir Kashim Ibrahim Government House, Kaduna on Wednesday, said the Lagos
laboratory, where the blood sample of the patient was taken to, had not
released the test result.
The commissioner stated this just as the Chief Medical
Director of the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Prof. Khalid Lawal,
denied receiving any Ebola patient in the hospital.
He said there was no iota of truth in the reports that a
19-year-old student of the Faculty of Law, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, was
admitted because he was suffering from the dreaded disease.
The CMD said, “I can’t confirm it because we don’t have any
test result. We are not taking chances but it is unlikely.”
The commissioner assured the people of the state not to
panic as the government was on top of the situation.
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