Nigeria is likely to have cases of the deadly Ebola virus from fleeing immigrants from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad and Cameroun, Minister of Heath, Prof. Onyeabuchi Chukwu, said yesterday.
Speaking to State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja, the minister called on Nigerians to take precautions, including seeing the doctor immediately one is feverish “because there are no vaccines for both Ebola and Lassa fever.”
He urged Nigerians to constantly wash their hands after each activity, avoid eating fruits without washing them and stop eating fruits that had been eaten by bats, adding that the three days after medication theory “is not applicable because Ebola virus kills very fast.”
He said: “Yes Ebola is a real threat. It is true that as at today we have not been able to report a single case of Ebola. But mind you Ebola is not the only threat, it is an added threat because West Africa never had a single case of Ebola until this year, it was more in Central Africa. But now we have added it to the ones that are even more native to West Africa which is Lassa fever.
“Like you pointed out Ebola has been moving eastward towards Nigeria as well and we are already facing danger from Central African Republic, even with what is happening in Congo, people are also migrating to Chad and Chad, Cameroon are also in our borders. So Nigeria is in danger but we have recently said in addition to the leaflets that we are producing for lassa and other haemorrhagic fever, we will now emphasis Ebola fever.”
