Introduction
EBOLA or Ebola virus disease (EVD) or Ebola
haemorrhagic fever (EHF) is one of the few virus that
challenged the dignity and intelligence of human existence. It proves that
humans can be starched to their limit in other to test how far they can extend
their capacities. Journalist David Quammen put it well in a recent New York
Times op-ed: "Ebola is
more inimical to humans than perhaps any known virus on Earth, except rabies
and HIV-1. And it does its damage much faster than either."
Ebola raised the
conscience of the intellectuals and put them all to their brim with sutures of
extreme disorderliness and haphazard depression because they are yet to
understand how to put an end to it just like the smartness of HIV. But who am I
to judge? These are just part of my psycho-analysis; I might be wrong but still
yet I might be the closest to the truth.
EBOLA; how it came to being.
The disease was
first identified in the tropical sub-Saharan Africa in 1976. From 1976 through
2013, the World Health Organization reported a total
of 1,716 cases.
The largest outbreak to date is the ongoing 2014 West African Ebola outbreak, which is affecting Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria. As of 26 August 2014, 3,069 suspected
cases resulting in the deaths of 1,552 have been reported. EFFORTS ARE UNDER WAY TO DEVELOP A VACCINE; HOWEVER, NONE YET EXISTS.
Ebola Virus
Deases is caused by four of five viruses classified in the genus Ebolavirus,
family Filoviridae, order Mononegavirales.
The four disease-causing viruses are Bundibugyo virus (BDBV), Sudan virus (SUDV),Taï Forest virus (TAFV), and one called simply, Ebola virus (EBOV,
formerly Zaire Ebola virus)). EBOLA VIRUS IS THE SOLE MEMBER OF THE ZAIRE EBOLAVIRUS SPECIES, AND THE MOST DANGEROUS OF THE
KNOWN EBOLA DISEASE-CAUSING VIRUSES, AS WELL AS BEING RESPONSIBLE FOR THE
LARGEST NUMBER OF
OUTBREAKS.
Ebola is a disease of humans and other primates caused by an Ebola virus.
Symptoms start two days to three weeks after contracting the virus, with a FEVER, SORE THROAT, MUSCLE
PAIN and HEADACHES. Typically, VOMITING, DIARRHEA and RASH follow, along with decreased functioning of
the liver and kidneys.
Around this time, affected people may begin to BLEED both within the
body and externally.
The virus may be acquired upon contact with blood or bodily fluids of an infected animal. Spreading through the air has not been
documented in the natural environment. Fruit bats are believed to be a carrier and may
spread the virus without being affected. Once human infection occurs, the
disease may spread between people, as well. Male survivors may be able to
transmit the disease via semen for nearly two months. To make the diagnosis, typically other
diseases with similar symptoms such as malaria, cholera and other viral haemorrhagic
fevers are first
excluded. To confirm the diagnosis, blood samples are tested for viral antibodies,
viral RNA, or the virus itself.
PREVENTION
Prevention includes decreasing the spread of
disease from infected animals to humans. This may be done by checking such
animals for infection and killing and properly disposing of the bodies if the
disease is discovered. Properly cooking meat and wearing protective clothing
when handling meat may also be helpful, as are wearing protective clothing and washing hands when around a person with the disease.
Samples of bodily fluids and tissues from people with the disease should be
handled with special caution.
Ebola can
completely disappear from humans for years at a time. For example, there were
zero recorded cases of Ebola in 2005 or 2006.
The current outbreak has been going on since late
2013 or early 2014 and has been getting extra attention in US news recently as
several Americans caught the disease. Several top
doctors have died from Ebola, as well, including one from Liberia and one from Sierra Leone.
The Courageous Act of Nigeria.
The world could not believe the promptness and
victorious way how Nigeria was able to subdue the Virus. When he arrived Lagos
aboard a Togolese Asky Airlines aircraft on Sunday July 20, 2014, Patrick
Sawyer, the late American-Liberian was on the threshold of history.
The chronicle of events following his disembarkation
at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos and subsequent admission
at First Consultants Hospital, Obalende underscore why his name has become
synonymous with the spectre of Ebola Virus Disease in Nigeria. Sawyer will
never be forgotten as the importer of the dreaded infectious Ebola virus into
the country. He was the first ever confirmed case and No.1 fatality of the
incurable Ebola virus disease in Nigeria.
Two days before Sawyer embarked on his odyssey to
Lagos from Monrovia, his sister, Princess Christina Nyennetue, had died of the
dreaded disorder. Not too many people knew it, but following his sister’s
demise, Sawyer who had been with her during her illness until her eventual
death sent out a disheartening email to a number of close friends and
associates as well as a senior official at the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja.
Saturday Vanguard intercepted the online communication
obtained by FrontPageAfrica. The email, entitled “Ebola Struck Close to Home”
offers a glimpse into the mind of the late Sawyer and what he was thinking
prior to his now controversial death in Lagos.
In the email dated July 10, 2014, Sawyer described the
death of his sister as “Promising Young Life Cheated”. According to Decontee (His Wife):
“Patrick went to Nigeria for help so
that he can get properly diagnosed, and not misdiagnosed in Liberia. And if it
came back that he did have Ebola, HE TRUSTED THE NIGERIAN HEALTHCARE SYSTEM a
lot more than he trusted the Liberian’s. His action, as off as it was, was
a desperate plea for help. Patrick didn’t want to die, and he thought his life
would be saved in Nigeria.”
The World Health
Organization, WHO, has commended efforts by the Nigerian government in
containing the spread of the deadly Ebola Virus Disease. Speaking during an
Emergency session of the United Nations Security Council on Ebola, on Thursday,
the Director General, WHO, Margaret Chan, told participants to take a cue from
the stable conditions in Nigeria and Senegal. SHE SAID THAT THE DISEASE WHICH
COULD BE CONTAINED WILL TAKE SOME TIME. “IT WILL TAKE SOME TIME, BUT THE EBOLA
OUTBREAK CAN BE CONTAINED. LOOK AT THE STABLE SITUATION IN NIGERIA AND
SENEGAL,” MS. CHAN SAID. She said the outbreak which has affected five West
African countries is likely the greatest peacetime challenge that the UN and
its agencies have ever faced, with reports showing that over 5000 people have
been infected with the disease that has killed over 2,500 others. Nigeria
witnessed a blow from the disease outbreak when a Liberian- American, Patrick
Sawyer, imported the deadly virus into the country on July 20. Mr. Sawyer had
evaded surveillance in Monrovia, Liberia, after his sister died of the Ebola
disease. He died on July 24 at the First Consultant Hospital, Obalende, Lagos
State. FOLLOWING THE OUTBREAK OF THE
DISEASE, NIGERIA RECORDED 19 CONFIRMED CASES WITH 12 SURVIVORS AND SEVEN
DEATHS. THE LAST CASE OF THE DISEASE WAS SUCCESSFULLY DISCHARGED ON SEPTEMBER
10 FROM THE EBOLA ISOLATION CENTER.
After weeks of
fighting the deadly disease, NIGERIA
CELEBRATES ONE WEEK AS AN EBOLA FREE COUNTRY.
Currently, there is no reported case of Ebola
virus in Nigeria. There has been several rumours but all are just a blow to
the air. The
Minister of State for Health, Dr. Khaliru Alhassan has denied a report in
section of the media on the outbreak of Ebola disease in Nigeria.
The Minister made the clarification in Abuja when
he briefed the Press on the purported rumour of the Ebola virus in Nigeria.
He said as a follow up to the report in a section
of the media on the outbreak of Ebola disease in Nigeria, the Federal Ministry
of Health wishes to inform the general public that laboratory investigation has
revealed that it is a case of Dengue Haemorrhagic
Fever and not that of Ebola virus as erroneously reported.
He said that the outbreak of the Ebola disease was
recorded in Guinea which has so far claimed 80 lives adding that the
disease has spread to Sierra Leone and Liberia which they share
border with Guinea. HE STATED CATEGORICALLY THAT THERE IS NO RECORDED CASE OF
EBOLA VIRUS IN NIGERIA.
It is absolutely clear that God has
called us to a free life. Just make sure that you don't use this freedom as an
excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your
freedom to serve one another in love; that's how freedom grows. For everything
we know about God's words is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you
love yourself. That's an act of true freedom. If you bite and ravage each
other, watch out — in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and
where will your precious freedom be then? Do well never to spread bad rumours,
you may not know that those closest to you, are the ones at harm. You are not
affected now, pray not to and also, keep heart for those deeply in the pain of
this virus. God bless Nigeria!
Compiled by Iroko Samson
(irokosamson@gmail.com)
