.
• Nigerians want national honour for doctor
• Controversy over five new cases of disease in Lagos
• Govt to discharge 62 secondary suspects
• Liberia may face legal action for allowing Sawyer’s entry
• Doctors, nurses shun work at quarantine centre despite N60,000 daily pay, N30m insurance cover
• Death toll from outbreak in W’ Africa hits 1,350, says WHO
• Jonathan orders release of N200m to Lagos
• Air France staff refuse to fly to virus-hit nations
GRATEFUL Nigerians Wednesday mourned Dr. Ameyo Stella Adadevoh and paid her tribute for curtailing the spread of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).
This came amid a controversy over whether there are five new cases of the disease in Lagos State.
Adadevoh contracted the virus after treating the index case, Mr. Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian-America, who was the first victim of the disease in the country.
The Lagos State government disclosed Wednesday that five fresh cases of the disease had been discovered. But the Federal Ministry of Health refuted this.
Dan Nwomeh, the Special Assistant (Media and Communications) to the Health Minister, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, said in Abuja Wednesday that the two remaining patients in the isolation wards were stable and being taken care of.
Nwomeh said that as “...at today, the status remains the same. Minister of Health confirms that there is no new case of Ebola in Nigeria. Please disregard the rumours in social media.”
The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, disclosed the new cases at a press conference he addressed with his counterparts in Information and Strategy, Mr. Remi Ibirogba, Special Duties, Dr. Wale Ahmed, and a Special Adviser to the Governor on Media, Alhaji Hakeem Bello.
He said a Liberian who had tested positive to EVD was cleared after the mandatory 21 days. He explained that out of the five new cases, three were primary contacts with Sawyer, while the other two were secondary contacts.
Idris said that 62 suspects under observation who had secondary contact with the Liberian-American, who died on July 20, in Lagos of EVD were due to be discharged yesterday having concluded the mandatory two day follow-up.
He explained that those discharged so far had been properly counseled, warning that it was not impossible for them to develop the same strain of the EVD that brought them to the isolation centre. He also did not rule out the possibility of developing EVD from four other strains out of the five that exist.
According to Idris, there is no specific treatment for those infected with Ebola, and that survival varies depending on symptoms that the patient presents. He stressed that the level of survival would depend on immunity and that the immunity of a 27-year-old person would be better to fight the disease than a 50-year-old person.
The state government is still following up on 213 contacts. It paid tribute to Adadevoh.
Other Nigerians who paid tribute urged the Federal and Lagos State governments to honour Adadevoh posthumously for saving the lives of over 170 million Nigerians who could have been infected with the virus if the gallant surgeon did not physically stop Sawyer from leaving the hospital.
“She was so kind and had this good nature that made you love her at the first meeting. Her good nature was infectious. She loved people. She was friendly to everybody,” said a close associate who preferred anonymity.
But while the government is making efforts to encourage health workers to intervene in the crisis, doctors and nurses are reluctant to help.
A doctor working at the quarantine centre, who pleaded anonymity, told The Guardian, Wednesday that government had assured the medical personnel, who volunteered to manage the patients, of adequate care and compensation in case anything went wrong.
According to the source, nurses are paid N45, 000 per day, while doctors get N60, 000, with N30 million insurance cover for each of the workers.
She added, however, that even with the attractive money offered the medical personnel, “only a few have come forward to volunteer their services.
“We are in dire need of qualified personnel for the centre because managing the victims is done round the clock.
“Every doctor or nurse working at the facility is well-equipped, so the chances of anybody contacting the virus from the patients now is minimal.”
In appreciation of the efforts of the Lagos government in combating Ebola, President Goodluck Jonathan Wednesday approved the immediate release of N200 million to the state.
This is in addition to the N100,000 per bed donation given by a Lagos-based businessman, Mr. Atedo Peterside, and his foundation to all the private hospitals that are currently managing the EVD-related patients in the country. The first beneficiary of the gesture would be the First Consultant Hospital Lagos, which managed the first EVD case. Chukwu disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents after yesterday’s Federal Executive Council (FEC)
And outraged at the behaviour of Sawyer, a league of Nigerian lawyers is planning to take the Liberian government to court for allowing him into Nigeria.
The Guardian learnt that the court action, expected to be instituted in the United States (U.S.) by the lawyers, who included a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), would seek both monetary rewards and other reliefs for the families of the victims.
One of the lawyers, who spoke to The Guardian from America, said the lawsuit would be predicated on the fact that the Liberian government seemed to have knowledge of Sawyer’s itinerary and did nothing to stop him even with the known implication of the trip.
The lawyer, who would not want to be mentioned, however, said they were still trying to reach out to family members of the affected with a view to compiling their names before filing the suit.
“Once, we overcome the identification of family members of the victims, we will file the suit. There is enough evidence to show that the Liberian government did not take necessary precautionary measures to prevent the entry of Sawyer and by extension Ebola into Nigeria,” he added.
Adadevoh, 58, was the first Nigerian to contract Ebola virus after treating Sawyer.
Sawyer arrived in Nigeria aboard ASky Airlines plane on July 20. He took ill on the flight from Lome, Togo and was taken to the First Consultant Hospital, Obalende, Lagos. He was diagnosed as having Ebola when the results of his tests came after two days of treatment.
The late Adadevoh was an endocrinologist at the First Consultant Hospital. She was the most senior of the medical team that attended to Sawyer.
She showed symptoms of Ebola infection a few days after Sawyer died and had been in isolation in Yaba, Lagos where she was being treated.
Her colleagues and friends had last Thursday raised the alarm that her condition was deteriorating.
The relatives and concerned friends of Adadevoh said she was critically ill and they urged the U.S. and the international community to come to their aid.
They alleged that the medical team and efforts by the Federal Government had been overwhelmed by the condition. They urged the international community to send experienced hands since most of the Nigerian doctors had never handled EVD before.
The Managing Director of Health Management Organisation (HMO), Dr. Ladi Okuboyejo, described Adadevoh as a patriot who could have treated the late Sawyer for malaria and allowed him to go when he requested to be discharged. He said she decided to take the case to the government to save the country from an epidemic.
Adadevoh was the first grandchild of Mrs Sarah Idowu Abigail Adadevoh, nee Macaulay, making her a great granddaughter of the late nationalist, Herbert Macaulay described as the founder of Nigerian nationalism.
Her father was Prof. Babatunde Kwaku Adadevoh, who was a grandson of the grand old man of Nigerian anti-colonial politics. He was also a physician.
Already, some Air France flight crews are refusing to board planes bound for Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria over fears of the Ebola outbreak, the airline said Tuesday.
Cabin crew scheduled to work on some flights “have not wanted to carry out their assignment”, a spokesman for the company told the Agence France Presse (AFP.)
He refused to be drawn on numbers but said none of the flights destined for the region had ultimately been left short-staffed.
“In the end, all these flights left with the usual number of crew and with teams that had the usual level of qualifications, according to the regulations,” he said.
Air France serves more West Africa destinations than any other major carrier. It has given its staff freedom to choose whether or not they want to fly to Conakry, Freetown and Lagos after British Airways and Emirates suspended flights to the region.
Air France operates daily flights to Guinea and Nigeria and a service three times a week to Sierra Leone.
The death toll from the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has risen to 1,350, with 106 new deaths reported between August 17 and 18 in three countries.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) yesterday said that 221 new suspected, probable and confirmed cases of the deadly fever were reported across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone over the two-day period.
The latest situation assessment on Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) by the WHO showed that “the outbreak of Ebola virus disease in West Africa continues to evolve, with cases confirmed in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. At present, no cases have been confirmed anywhere else in the world outside these four countries.”
The WHO is also urging countries affected by the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa to check exiting travellers for signs consistent with infection by the virus.
The WHO said travellers leaving countries affected by the Ebola virus should be screened for signs of infection.
On Nigeria, the document published yesterday by the WHO reads: “The situation in Lagos, Nigeria, where the first imported case was detected in July, looks reassuring. At present, the city’s 12 confirmed cases are all part of a single chain of transmission.” .Culled from The Guardian