Ebola: Nigerian envoy, ECOWAS staff, 55 others endangered

By Jery Uwah
Lagos

Lagos state government has disclosed that the Nigerian Ambassador to Liberia, Chigozie Obi-Nnadozie, three staff of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and 55 others had contact with the victim of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), Patrick Sawyer, who died last Thursday in Lagos.

Sawyer, a 40-year-old WASH consultant with the Ministry of Finance in Liberia, was diagnosed with EVD in Lagos last week after he collapsed at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, Nigeria.
Addressing a World News Conference yesterday in Lagos, Lagos state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, said 59 people had so far had contact with the Ebola victim, who arrived in Lagos on Asky Airline Flight No KP50.

“So far, a total of 59 contacts have been registered, consisting of 44 hospital contacts (38 healthcare workers and six laboratory staff) and 15 airport contacts, comprising three ECOWAS staff – driver, liaison, and protocol officers, Nigerian Ambassador to Monrovia, 2 nursing staff and five airport passenger handlers.
He said: “As of the time of this report, 20 contacts had been physically screened of which 50 per cent had type 1 contact and 50 per cent had had type 2 contact. Airline manifest has not been provided by the airline at the time of this report and therefore the precise number of passenger contacts is yet to be ascertained, especially as two flights were involved (Monrovia-Lome and Lome-Lagos).”

“Preliminary laboratory investigation conducted by the NCDC AI virology laboratory of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital and the World-Bank Funded African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID) Redeemers’ University detected viral DNA and in both blood and urine samples obtained from the patient were positive for the Pan Filo virus analysis and Ebola Zaire MGB virus strain- specific analysis. Samples were also collected for further confirmation at the WHO Collaborating laboratory for Ebola in Dakar.”

He disclosed that an isolation ward has been designated by the Lagos state Ministry of Health at the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba for case management, saying that designation of three other health facilities is underway.
He added that a total of 100 Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) were procured by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) an the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) and distributed to the private hospital and the State Ministry of Health, while World Health Organisation (WHO) also donated 250 PPEs to the NCDC/FMOH.

He said in adhering strictly to WHO guidelines, the body of the deceased patient was decontaminated using 10 per cent sodium hypochlorite and cremated, with the permission of the government of Liberia as a cremation urn had been prepared for dispatch to the family, adding that the vehicle that conveyed the remains was also fully decontaminated.
Idris explained that the Liberian victim had arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Lagos from Monrovia via Lome on Asky Airline Flight No KP50, on his way to Calabar for the 8th ECOWAS Retreat of Heads of Offices meeting, as a senior ECOWAS official in Liberia.

“His plane was reported to have had a brief stop at Accra and Lome, and the aircraft was changed at Lome. He was also reported to have fallen ill while on board and remained very ill on arrival at the airport in Lagos. He was then assisted by various airport and ECOWAS protocol staff to a private hospital named First Consultant Medical Centre, Obalende, and Lagos.
“An initial diagnosis of suspected Viral Haemorrhagic fever was made. He was admitted and investigations were carried and supportive treatment was commenced. The private hospital immediately notified the State Ministry of Health who also notified the Federal Ministry of Health. The patient, however, died at about 6.50am on July 25, 2014.”
Meanwhile, the body of the late Patrick Sawyer has been decontaminated, cremated on the permission of the Liberian government and dispatched to his relatives in Liberia.

As part of measures to avert the spread of the deadly virus, 59 persons who had contacts with him have been placed on close surveillance.
Event the ambulance that carried his body has been thoroughly decontaminated in accordance with the World Health Organisation (WHO) standards.
Lagos state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, who disclosed this at a press briefing held in conjunction with officials of the Federal Ministry of Health at the Staff Clinic in Alausa, said there was no cause for alarm.