Trend Alert: Ebola Virus Outbreak in Lagos

The Liberian man who was confirmed to have been infected with the deadly Ebola Virus in Lagos a couple of days ago created a lot of fear and panic in the City of Lagos. Dr Yewande Adeshina, the special adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Public Heath said that the Liberian is currently isolated at an hospital at Obalende, Lagos. She said that 30 other people directly linked to this virus are being tested too so there is no need for alarm.

Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans.

Dr Adeshina warned residents to;

“keep personal and environmental hygiene” and urged those who notice “strange feeling or symptoms similar to those of Ebola virus, which ranges from fever, headache, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, sore throat and joint pains, which are all symptoms of other ailments, to visit competent health facilities”.

In the absence of such facilities, she said residents should call the following numbers - 08023169485, 08033086660, 08033065303, 08055281442, 08055329229.

Some know fact about this Virus include:  

EVD outbreaks have a case fatality rate of up to 90%.

EVD outbreaks occur primarily in remote villages in Central and West Africa, near tropical rainforests.

The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission.

Fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are considered to be the natural host of the Ebola virus.

Severely ill patients require intensive supportive care. No licensed specific treatment or vaccine is available for use in people or animals.

Ebola first appeared in 1976 in 2 simultaneous outbreaks, in Nzara, Sudan, and in Yambuku, Democratic Republic of Congo. The latter was in a village situated near the Ebola River, from which the disease takes its name.