Nigerians unperturbed as Ebola fever echoes from afar

The outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in Guinea and Liberia about three weeks ago has jolted several governments around the world, especially in Africa. The World Health Organisation(WHO) has described the presence of the deadly disease in Guinea as one of the most challenging in the history of the disease which was first discovered in […]

The outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in Guinea and Liberia about three weeks ago has jolted several governments around the world, especially in Africa. The World Health Organisation(WHO) has described the presence of the deadly disease in Guinea as one of the most challenging in the history of the disease which was first discovered in 1976.
The disease has reportedly killedscores of people in Guinea within the period.The situation has put health workers in the WestAfrican sub- region on high alert. Although there is no confirmed case in Nigeria yet, the Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, has said there was cause for concern, because the disease is very contagious.
Ebola viruses are mainly found in primates in Africa and possibly the Philippines; there are only occasional outbreaks of infection in humans.
However in Makurdi, the Benue State capital and elsewhere across the country, where bush meat is in high demand, customers and dealers merely shrugged off the news of the possibility of an outbreak of the disease. The four different strains of Ebola virus are transmitted from animals to humans.
Weekly Trust investigations show that the attitude of bush meat consumers and sellers to the news of the possibility of the presence of Ebola in Nigeria was largely due to ignorance rather than indifference, despite the heat the outbreak is generating across West Africa.
In Wurukum and Wadata markets in Makurdi, bush meat dealers and customers expressed absolute ignorance about the disease. Evelyn Zwazongu who has traded in bush meat for more than 10 years,said it was her first time to hear of the existence of Ebola disease.
However, she assured that her meat is safe for consumption because officials from the forestry department of the state Ministry of Environment are always on hand to certify the products duringits preparation.
“They usually check our meat at the roasting points,” Zwazongu, who operates her business at the Wadata market, said.
Another bush meat trader in the same market, Mary Chia, does not also know what the virus is all aboutmuch less take precautionary measures against it.
Medical experts in Benue State declined comments on the existence of Ebola in Nigeria on groundsthat they are not yet aware of the confirmation of the virus in the country.
The state epidemiologist, Dr. TernaKur told Weekly Trust in Makurdi that it was too early to make any comment about the dreaded virus since it has not been brought to the knowledge of the health sector in the state.
Similarly, his female counterpart who refused to disclose her identity saidif there were any truth in the revelation, the entire health sector throughout out the country would immediately be alerted by text messages. “But, we have not gotten any text messages or e-mail to that effect. So, I cannot comment on what I don’t know,” she said.
However, in Kaduna State, Loveday Obizo, who sells bush meat including antelope, alligator, rabbit, grasscutter and monkeys, amongothers at Sheikh Gumi market, said he heard the news over the radio, but said there was no cause for alarm.
“The fact about the bush meat we sell is that they are well preserved with fire and salt, so even if there is anything, it would have been dead before it is consumed. But I don’t have any fear because of the disease. I strongly believe that the bush meat I am selling has no Ebola or whatever because they are well preserved,” he said.
He said he buys his bush meat from Odua village in Kaduna, but advised customers not to panic, reiterating that his bush meat is well preserved.
“That was how bird flu came and disappeared; this one too has come and in no time, we will not hear about it again,” Obizo added dismissively.
Another bush meat seller, Innocent Nwosu, said he heard about the disease in the news but that he has no reason to fear whatsoever.
“I have no fear because I don’t sell the kind of bush meat that carries the disease. I read in the newspaper that batscarry the disease. I don’t sell bats I only sell antelope and buffalo, so I don’t have any fear,” he noted.
When contacted, the director of public health at the Kaduna state ministry of health, Dr. Ado Zakari, said the ministry received an alert letter from the epidemiology unit of the Federal Ministry of Health last week and that the ministry immediately swung into action.
He said the ministry is embarking on public enlightenment about the viral hemorrhagic fever, the signs and symptoms so that when such cases are noticed they can be rushed to hospital.
“We also want to inform the people to learn how to protect themselves from contracting the disease,” he added.
Zakari said local government chairmen and the directors of primary health care services in all the councilshave been put on alert about the Ebola viral hemorrhagic fever.
“We have a surveillance system on viral hemorrhagic fever because there are quite a number of viral hemorrhagic fevers. So, we want them to pay more attention to strengthen their surveillance system at LGA level so that cases will not slip but can easily be detected,” he said.
“Initially, the symptoms may appear as if the person has malaria or typhoid though with bleeding from the gums, nostrils and under the skin. The diagnosis is very obvious; so we have to be on the alert and we have to be on the look out to be able to detect the disease easily,” the public health director said.
At the secondary health care facilities, he mentioned that letters have been drafted to all the medical directors of the 29 general hospitals in the state. He said their duty is to inform them about the disease and also ask them to be on the alert as well as direct them to ensure that their health care personnel protect themselves against contracting the disease.
He also said letters would also be sent to guild of medical directors of private health facilities to enable them report to the ministry whenever they have a suspected case through the surveillance system.
According to him, the disease has no vaccine and has no treatment and it has a high case fertility rate, which he puts at 80 per cent.
“It is a big calamity.Unfortunately, in primary prevention there are actions that should be taken including eliminating the reservoir of the disease, breaking the transmission and protecting the host, and that is where vaccination comes in,” Zakari added.
“There has been a lot of confusion as to which the reservoir is or which animal is the reservoir.Some say it is monkeys because it has been observed that there are some species of Ebola that are transmitted amongstmonkeys, especially monkeys that live in high tropical rain forest areas.They interact with nearby villages and towns and somehow, the people around them can contract the disease and once the disease is contracted then there is human to human transmission,” he noted.
“But this is just a theory yet. So what we try to do is to make early diagnosis and protect ourselves from getting the disease by all means,” the health official said.
In Taraba State, there are hardly bush meat sellers displaying their products in the open market for prospective customers.
Our correspondent who moved round all the major markets where assorted types of meat are sold within Jalingo, the state capital, could not find anyone selling bush meat at the markets.
It was gathered that due to constant harassment and arrests of bush meat sellers by the police and environmental officials, they have decided to operate from their homes and public offices where they sell to interested buyers.
From interactions with various consumers of bush meat in the state, Weekly Trust gathered that only few of them are aware that the deadly Ebola virus.
Terkaa Tyopusuu said he is aware that the Ebola virus is transmitted through animals, especially monkeys and bats.
“But at that, it will not stop many of us from eating bush meat because the categories of animals that transmit the disease are a taboo for us to eat by our culture. Our culture prohibits eating of bats and monkeys,” Tyopusuu said.
He, however, called on the state and local governments to sensitise the people in remote areas who sometimes eat these animals indiscriminately, so as tocaution them on the dangers of the Ebola virus.
Speaking on the issue, Taraba State Epidemiologist and Public Health Consultant, Dr. Innocent Vakai, said no case of Ebola virus has been reported in the state.
“Our surveillance system has not picked up any case of Ebola virus in the state yet,”he said.
Vakai said health workers in the state have been sensitized on what preventive measures to take whenever an Ebola virus case is discovered, adding that government is also planning sensitization campaigns in the media to enlighten the people about the disease.
Health experts say symptoms of Ebola include fever, headache, joint and muscle aches, sore throat, and weakness, followed by diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pain. Skin rash, red eyes, and internal and external bleeding may be seen in some patients.
They add that early clinical diagnosis is difficult as the symptoms are nonspecific; advising that if the patient is suspected to have Ebola, the patient needs to be isolated and local and state health departments need to be immediately contacted.
Medical researchers are trying to understand the Ebola virus and pinpoint its ecological reservoirs to better understand how outbreaks occur, experts said, adding that researchers are actively trying to establish an effective vaccine against Ebola viruses by using several experimental methods, but there is no vaccine available currently.