By Punch Editorial Board
FIVE months after the Democratic Republic of Congo announced the end of its 16th Ebola outbreak in the Bulape region, a rare strain of the disease has hit the country again. This time, it is the Bundibugyo strain, first identified in Uganda in 2007.
This is the 17th outbreak since 1976 when the Ebola virus was first isolated. The 10th outbreak, the Zaire strain, killed over 2,300 people in North Kivu and Ituri province between 2018 and 2020.
It is worrisome that the current outbreak, like the Zaire strain, is in a conflict zone, where many people have been displaced from their homes. It has spread due to delays in reporting cases.
Infected communities were said to have besieged prayer centres and witchdoctors for treatment. They reportedly believe the virus is either witchcraft or a mystical illness.
The situation calls for vigilance in Nigeria.
Like the recently identified Hantavirus, which is transmitted from animals such as mice, rats and voles to humans, the Ebola virus usually infects animals, particularly fruit bats.
Sometimes, humans contract it by eating or handling infected animals. The virus is also spread through contact with such infected bodily fluids such as blood, semen, saliva, or vomit.
Symptoms, which include flu, fever, headache, and tiredness, appear within two to 21 days. This is followed by vomiting and diarrhoea, which can lead to organ failure.
Medical experts attribute the frequent outbreak of the disease in DRC to unsafe food practices, including eating raw or undercooked food, a poor health care system, and limited access to clean water.
As of May 21, the DRC and Uganda Ministries of Health reported a total of 575 suspected cases, 51 confirmed cases, and 148 suspected deaths.
The epicentres of the outbreak are in the northeastern Ituri province and the North Kivu province.
The two infected people in Uganda are Congolese nationals living in Uganda, but had travelled from DR Congo.
One of them died in Kampala, Uganda. The second person is being treated. It is suspected that there could be over 1,000 active cases.
The World Health Organisation has already declared it a public health emergency of international concern.
Incidentally, DR Congo will play in the FIFA World Cup Finals 2026, holding in Canada, Mexico and the United States from June 11 to July 19.
Consequently, the Congo national team has cancelled its preparations at home and moved its camp to Belgium.
DR Congo will play against Portugal in Houston (the US), Colombia in Guadalajara (Mexico), and Uzbekistan in Atlanta (the US). It will be interesting to see how FIFA, the US and Mexican authorities handle the issue of Congolese fans travelling there for the competition.
Tragically, this particular strain of Ebola is quite challenging and harder to treat. Like hantavirus, it has no vaccine or drugs yet.
The WHO has dedicated $3.9 million to tackle the outbreak.
Since the United States withdrew from the WHO, Nigeria and other countries at risk must sit up and intensify research on how they can eradicate the deadly disease.
Incidentally, Nigeria has gone through this road before. In July 2014, a Liberian-American diplomat, Patrick Sawyer, came into Nigeria with the virus.
He collapsed at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, and was rushed to First Consultants Medical Centre.
A Nigerian female doctor, Ameyo Adadevoh, put her life on the line. She quarantined Sawyer and prevented him from leaving the hospital and potentially spreading the virus. She later died of the disease on August 19, 2014.
Nigerian health authorities followed up by establishing an Emergency Operations Centre, conducting intensive contact tracing, and enforcing strict isolation measures. This helped to contain the virus within three months. Eight people died, including Adadevoh.
For Adadevoh’s immense sacrifice and bravery, she was posthumously awarded a national honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger in October 2022 by the late former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The government also awarded her the posthumous National Productivity Order of Merit in May 2022.
Sadly, Nigeria has not been able to produce a vaccine against some of these viruses. It is still battling with another deadly viral disease, Lassa fever, which has claimed about 170 lives this year alone.
So far, there are no confirmed cases of Ebola Virus Disease in Nigeria. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has assured that there is no need to panic.
According to the NCDC, the country has the capacity to combat the disease as it is actively maintaining nationwide surveillance and emergency preparedness measures.
Some of the measures include the monitoring of points of entry into the country in collaboration with Port Health Services; optimisation of diagnostic capacity at designated facilities like the National Reference Laboratory in Abuja and the Lagos University Teaching Hospital.
The agency issues public health updates, while multidisciplinary emergency response and rapid response teams are reportedly kept on standby for immediate deployment should a suspected case be reported.
Bureaucracy should not be a stumbling block in tackling this problem. There should be proper screening of people entering the country from any direction.
Lagos, Kano, Abuja, Enugu and all the entry points into Nigeria should be well manned. The country’s borders must be strengthened. There should be testing kits at such borders.
Health workers should assess patients with symptoms such as fever, headache, muscle and joint pain, fatigue, or unexplained bleeding for exposure risk.
Such patients who have symptoms compatible with Ebola should immediately be isolated and hospitalised.
Nigerians should take preventive measures to avoid contracting this disease.
They should avoid contact with people suspected of having contracted the disease. They should stay clear of the dead bodies of those who died with the symptoms.
Non-human primates such as monkeys, gorillas, and chimpanzees should be avoided this time. Also, contact with blood, semen, or body fluid of people who are sick, or with bats or bat droppings, should be avoided.
Citizens should beware of mines and caves usually inhabited by bats. There should be extra screening of people in the mining industry, especially in the Congo, where the disease is currently more prevalent.
Nigerians should avoid non-essential travel to high-risk countries like DR Congo and Uganda this time. Those who wish to still travel must protect themselves. They must isolate themselves when they notice symptoms of the disease and contact a health care facility for advice.
Besides, Nigerians need to begin to observe all the safety protocols and public health measures mandated during the global coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
Such measures include constant washing of hands, social distancing, use of sanitisers, travel restrictions, isolation of suspected cases, among others. Those who like eating undercooked meat or food should beware.
The health authorities, in conjunction with the National Orientation Agency, should engage in public awareness campaigns. The causes and symptoms of this disease, including preventive measures, should be communicated to the people.
The country should have isolation centres, and they should be prepared for emergencies. Preparation is crucial in stopping the disease from becoming a pandemic.
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