HOW I SURVIVED EBOLA – LATE NURSE' FIANCE, DENNIS AKAGHA SPEAKS

Dennis Akagha, the fiance of Justina Ejelonu, the First Consultant Hospital nurse who died after being infected with the deadly Ebola virus by Liberian Patrick Sawyer, in this exclusive interview with Vanguard spoke about how his late fiancee contracted the deadly disease, how she lost their unborn child while battling with Ebola, and also revealed that Justina had just landed the job at the hospital and met Sawyer on her first day there. He also spoke on how he got infected with the virus and how he finally got discharged.

On his relationship with the late Justina, Dennis said;
"The truth is that Justina and I were not legally married, we were planning for our traditional marriage in October and she just got this job. She was a qualified graduate nurse and got the job at the First Consultant Hospital in Lagos. She resumed duty at the hospital on the 21st of July, while Patrick Sawyer was admitted at the hospital on the 20th. He was her first patient. She was one of the nurses that nursed him. She was pregnant and so her immune system was weak, which made it easy for her to contract the disease. On that first day which was a Monday, she was having some pregnancy symptoms, but I just encouraged her to go because it was her first day at work. Sawyer was her first patient. The next day,Tuesday, she didn’t work on Sawyer. Wednesday and Thursday, she was off. Then on Friday, Patrick Sawyer died. They didn’t know he had Ebola, it was three days later that they realized it was Ebola" he said

On how he found out she had contracted the deadly virus, he said
"It was after Sawyer died that she told me she nursed him but that she was on gloves. She even thanked God that she didn’t have direct contact with him. The fever continued and we thought it was just pregnancy symptoms and even when she went to her hospital, they confirmed the same thing. She took drugs and ran tests, yet it persisted. At night, she was usually cold and feverish and her body temperature was usually very high. At a point, I began to suspect that she had contacted the virus. I did some research on the disease and realised that she was having similar symptoms. On the 14th of August, it became serious, she started stooling and vomiting. I had to clean up everything. All of a sudden, she started bleeding and she started crying that she had lost the pregnancy. I had to call her relatives and other people. The bleeding persisted and I had to clean up everything. Initially I was not wearing gloves because I felt I had already been exposed to the virus. But later I cautioned myself and started wearing nylon on my hands. But I couldn’t stay away from her. I kept consoling her. Even when I took her to the hospital, she wanted to hold me and I told her to also consider my safety. She managed to hold herself and was able to find her way out in a pool of her blood. We chartered a taxi to the hospital, but first, I took her to First Consultant Hospital because I felt they should know more. When we got there, I was directed to IGH, Yaba. I told the taxi driver to take us there. The driver wasn’t even aware of what was going on as he took us to Yaba. Justina was on the floor for 30 minutes before she was attended to. She was screaming that she was going to die. She was seriously bleeding, she had to come out of the taxi and lay on the floor. I ran around, trying to get doctors to attend to her. After everything, they took her in, took her blood samples and the following day, the result came out that it was Ebola. They washed the taxi with chlorine and also bathed the taxi driver and I with chlorine spray. At that point, the taxi driver knew what was going on, he couldn’t even take me home because he was so scared. I had to look for somewhere to pass the night in the hospital. Early the next morning, I left the Hospital. The taxi driver is alive today, nothing happened to him. We have been checking on him and the last time we spoke he told me, he was fine" he said.
On what happened after he was exposed to the virus, Dennis said;

"14 days after I was exposed to Ebola, my temperature rose from the usual 35.2 degrees centigrade to 37.2. The Lagos State government gave me a thermometer the day I dropped Justina off at the centre. It took them two straight weeks to visit my home and to disinfect it. Before they came, I had already done the much I could do. I used bleach and detergent to clean the whole house, furniture and clothes inclusive. We should be reminded and educated that a healthy person with Ebola virus cannot get anybody infected, except if the person is sick and totally down with the virus like what happened to Sawyer and to my late wife-to-be, Justina. I contacted the virus because Justina was very sick and I was taking care of her without any appropriate protection. When we knew what we were dealing with it was almost too late for me as I had already contacted the virus" he said.
On what was done for him after his visit to the Isolation centre, Dennis said

"The Lagos State government sent health professionals to check on me regularly to know how l was doing or if l had the signs of the virus manifesting. So they used to come around to check on me. At some point they created scenes with their visits. I was embarrassed and I was stigmatized. I complained severely to them that I didn’t like what they were doing. Then, one Saturday they visited again, I complained about the pains I was beginning to experience; excruciating pains around my waist. I started praying and asking people to pray for me. Before this time, I believed in the Holy Communion, so I usually take it daily and do feet washing. I was going to the hospital daily to see late Justina. Initially, I was seeing her through the window and she would say I should take her out of the hospital. She complained of lack of care. Perhaps, Justina would have survived the virus, if not for the state she was in. Her immune system was down because she was pregnant. Along the line, she had a miscarriage and lost the baby due to the Ebola virus disease. The doctors, who were supposed to do an evacuation on her couldn’t do it because they claimed that an evacuation was too risky as she was heavily infected and may pass on the virus to another person. Since nothing was done even after the bleeding had stopped, it led to more complications for her because the already dead foetus somehow got rotten in the womb and started a damaging process which led to further complication. Meanwhile, she was still stooling and vomiting and since nobody could dare to touch her, she was left on top of her excretions even when she couldn’t do much for herself due to her weak state. She was given her incisions and other drugs. I believe if some people survived Justina should have been one of them. At a point, I wished I was a doctor myself; I would have taken the risk of doing the evacuation because it really affected her".

On the last day he say his late fiancee, Dennis said
"The last day I saw her, I had to go inside the ward because she was so unkempt as nobody attended to her. At that time, the quarantined patients were in the former facility where there was no water and she had messed up herself again. I had to look for water to clean her up, change her pampers and arrange her bedding. Since I was aware of what I was dealing with, I got myself protected while cleaning up the place. I made sure she looked better than when I saw her. Justina was shivering the last day I saw her, one side of her stomach was already swollen, and her legs were also swollen. I prayed for her.At a point, she needed oxygen and the hospital couldn’t provide it. Her friends had to provide it. That was the last day I saw her. On Sunday Morning, I called her line like I usually did before visiting her, but she didn’t pick her calls. When I got to the hospital, I was told that she was dead".

Asked if late Justina was taking his calls while she was at the Isolation center, Dennis said;
"Yes, in fact she called me that last day and I knew she was going to give up, because she was saying some funny things. She said I should tell my people to go and meet her father so as to finalize our marriage plans, that she’s leaving that place.
Asked if he was not scared that he would die form the illness seeing that his Fiancees health was deteriorating, Dennis said;

"I personally don’t believe in taking medications. I had the mentality that I wasn’t sick. I told the government what I was experiencing. On the day they came to pick me up for treatment, all of a sudden, my temperature went back to normal. The shivering and pains were all gone. So they decided that they would be checking on me. But it got to a point people stopped selling things to me. It was as if the government got a report that I shouldn’t be around. So, they came and said I should go with them that they wanted to take my blood sample. I went with them and they took my blood sample, I was kept in a ward known as the ‘suspected ward. The result came out and it was positive. I was then taken to a confined ward. One of the doctors from UNICEF, a white lady told me that they were having issues with the results and that they would have to re-run the tests. They did the tests again and it was still positive. I told them that it wasn’t my result and that I was healthy. I was even doing my usual exercises (press-ups) every morning. I kept telling them that I wasn’t sick. They took my blood sample the third time. That night, they told me that I tested negative in the last result and that I don’t have any reason to remain there. That was how I was discharged" he said
Speaking on what was hapening to his job as he was under isolation, Dennis said;
"I was a marketer in an oil and gas company. I worked on commission basis, but at a point, I realized that people were not calling me and when I called they won’t pick my calls. Even the person that I report directly refused to pick my calls and also refused to associate with me. Justina and I just got our jobs, she got hers at First Consultant Hospital and I got mine as a marketer with the oil and gas company.
On whether the government or First Consultant Hospital owes late Justina's family some form of compensations, Dennis said;
"Although, no amount of money they give to the family will bring her back I think the government owes Justina’s family a lot because she died trying to save a situation. Justina died in active service as her death wasn’t natural".

On how his status changed from postive to negative, Dennis said
"I was reading a book on healing and taking of the Holy Communion. So I learnt to take Holy Communion morning, afternoon and night. I also engaged myself in feet-washing every day before going to bed. The Almighty God saved me; the Holy Spirit healed me. It wasn’t as though l didn’t fall sick as l had direct contact with Justina but the Almighty God healed me. When I was discharged, I got to my house on Saturday evening and spent two hours the next day, Sunday, thanking God on my own. I didn’t go to church or anywhere because of the already established stigma but today I can confidently attend church activities because I guess they all know I’m free now. I know my faith and belief healed me. God also worked for me apart from the fact that my immune system is also working. I believe I got healed also because friends prayed for me" he said.

-Vanguard

Ebola in PH: Why did Dr Enemuo treat diplomat in hotel ?

Please no more handshake, keep your hands in your pocket until we contain the disease”.
The foregoing were the words of Governor Chibuike Amaechi in Government House, Port Harcourt four days after the first death was recorded from Ebola virus in the state.
Though it is not in any law book in the state but it is now like a taboo to shake hands in Government House, Port Harcourt. This new culture that came with the first recorded case of death from Ebola virus is gradually becoming the norm in several parts of the state.

The whole of last week, friends, colleagues and business associates who ordinarily would shake hands as part of their greetings and exchange of banters merely waved or cup their right fist in the air, saying “ I greet you in Jesus name” or “ Ebola greetings”.
The state government had consistently maintained that there was no Ebola case in the state until last week Thursday when the Commissioner  for Health, Dr Sampson Parker announced with a heavy heart the first casualty of the dreaded virus. According to him, Doctor Iyke Sam Enemuo who died from Ebola virus treated a diplomat, a staff of Economic Community of West Africa, ECOWAS, who escaped from a quarantine centre in Lagos to Port Harcourt.
The diplomat was reportedly in the team that received the index case, late Patrick Sawyer when he came to the country. Like others who contracted the virus from Sawyer the diplomat also did.

Why treat the Diplomat in a hotel?
It was not clear who asked the diplomat to check into a hotel in Port Harcourt for his treatment. But the state Commissioner for  Health, Dr Parker confirmed that the diplomat checked into a hotel in the state capital. And the late Dr. Enemuo was going there to treat him.
The Diplomat who allegedly fled a quarantine centre in Lagos chose to remain incommunicado, switching off his phones while in Port Harcourt.
He reportedly regained his health and headed back to the quarantine centre in Lagos, apparently for a certificate of clean health.

But how come the Diplomat received his treatment in a hotel when Dr Enemuo ran a clinic on East West road in Rumuokoro area of Obio Akpor local government area, Rivers state is the question on many lips. The Diplomat and his late doctor could certainly answer the question. Meantime, speculations had it that the late doctor, Enemuo didnot want his patients in his hospital to be affected with the virus and that was why he arranged for the Diplomat to be treated in a hotel.
Another angle to the story said the diplomat feared he could be tracked to any hospital so he offered to hide in a hotel and take his treatment. A third dimension to the issue said the diplomat and his deceased doctor feared that if he was admitted into a hospital, staff of the place could tip government off on the presence of an Ebola patient.

Meantime, one week after the Diplomat left, Dr Enemuo took ill. His wife who is also a doctor took up the responsibility to manage him. When the situation seemed like it was getting out of hand, they reportedly approached the first hospital that rejected him until the Medical Director, Good Heart Clinic offered to assist. Dr Enemuo vomitted blood and was stooling. The Medical Director of the Good Heart hospital who suspected that the patient could have contracted the virus, alerted the state Ministry of Health. Blood samples were taken but Dr Enemuo died before the result which confirmed he had Ebola came out.

Painfully, his wife according to the Commissioner  for  Health, Dr. Parker showed symptoms of the disease and was quarantined. At the time of this report the Commissioner said about 100 persons who had primary and secondary contact with the deceased were on the watch list of the state government.
Saturday Vanguard gathered that the late Enemuo and his wife have a three-month old female child.

Corpse of late Enemuo caused panic at UPTH
The remains of the late Dr Enemuo deposited at the morgue of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching hospital caused tension as families hurriedly discharged their relatives from the hospital. Some workers in the morgue lamented that they were not told when the Corpse was brought in, that it was a case of Ebola virus.
A top staff of the hospital who spoke off camera said there was no need to panic as all measures had been taken to ensure the corpse did not create problem for staff.
Residents who offered comments to the Vanguard said the corpse should have been cremated. “Since a test had confirmed that it was an Ebola case, cremation should have been done on it rather than keep it in the morgue”.”Government should shut down the morgue”, another staff said.

Hand sanitizer sells for N1000 and above
Hand sanitizer that hitherto sold for N300 has suddenly gone up to N1000 and above as most organisations insist as an un written code that the liquid must be applied on the hand before any one steps into their officers. Some organisations even went a step further to acquire easy handle equipment to test body temperature. A security man told the Vanguard that temperature above 36 were politely turned back at the company’s gate.

Long sleeve shirts now in vogue
Fear that the virus is contracted from body fluid like sweat, spittle, and so on have triggered off a new sense of fashion in Port Harcourt.You see more longsleev shirts on streets now.” I wear longsleev shirts now because it protects my body from fluid in other people s body.”

Commercial sex workers lament low patronage
Commercial sex workers who hang around night life areas in the new GRA , Port Harcourt grumbled about poor patronage since the outbreak of the disease. “ I am an Aristo, ( a euphemism for commercial sex workers,) Ebola has spoilt our runs. Its so bad now that the real men dont come around anymore. You see small small boys coming to take advantage of the bad weather to talk sex with us”, a giel said.

Ebola is politics
Surprisingly youths who spoke to the Vanguard at some local restaurants code named Long bench in Port Harcourt said the whole issue of Ebola was riddled with politics. “How do you convince me that a state that said there was no Ebola case a day before suddenly woke up the next day to say they had 100 persons on its watch list. I am confused. It is all politics. I am not saying it is not there but the various governments are playig politics with it. How do you say people are on watchlist yet they walk freely on our streets”, this source queried.

Youths in Emohua protest location of Quarantine centre
Before the outbreak of Ebola in the state youths of Emohua local government had protested against the siting of the Ebola quarantine centre in Oduoha community in the local government. They feared that the disease was airborne. It took effort of the state Commissioner of Health, Dr Parker to calm them. Some had also said the local government already housed Disease control hospital so it would be unfair to site Ebola quarantine centre in the area.
Meantime, governor Amaechi has assured that the state was capable to contain spread of the virus, adding that it would work with the federal government and other foreign based organisations to manage the situation.

“I don’t want anybody infected to feel shy and possibly take it to the rural areas because it could affect your children, family and relations and may result to death. That will be too disastrous. When you have high fever that you can’t account for, please, don’t go to any Primary health centre, come to the corridors of government and our doctors will pick you and give you adequate treatment. It is not a case all doctors can handle. Our doctors will take care of your medical treatment, feed you, so you can survive. You can see that a lot of patients infected by the Ebola virus have been successfully discharged in Lagos State. That is because of the quick response by those who reported and received adequate medical care,””There is no need to panic because the Ebola virus is not air borne.”, he said.
The fear of Ebola has suddenly gripped all residents of the state. All you hear in Port Harcourt is” God save us from Ebola”.
Source: Vanguard

Infected diplomat takes Ebola to Port Harcourt

Nigeria’s efforts to contain the deadly Ebola   virus have suffered a major setback   with the news that another medical doctor has been killed by the disease in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The news   was announced by the Minister of Health, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu, at a news conference in Abuja on Thursday.

The doctor’s passage on Friday, the first outside Lagos, caused panic in Rivers State and worry among health personnel and other stakeholders battling to stamp out the disease in the country.
Although Chukwu did not give the identity of the doctor, the Rivers State Government   said he is   Iyke Enemuo.

Enemuo was said to have contracted the virus from an Economic Community of West African States diplomat while allegedly treating him of Ebola symptoms in a hotel in Port Harcourt.
It was gathered that Enemuo, before he took ill on Tuesday “operated on a woman on Monday presumably after treating the diplomat.”
A resident of the city said on her Facebook page   that   the doctor’s widow, who was quarantined alongside the diplomat, had a three-month-old baby.
The ECOWAS official whose name was also not given by Chukwu, was said to have had contact with the index case in Nigeria (Patrick Sawyer). He was placed under surveillance in Lagos but he escaped to Port Harcourt   where he checked into a hotel and contacted Enemuo for treatment.

The official recovered from the ailment and returned to Lagos. Health workers were said to have tested him when he allegedly came for a clearance certificate and gave him a clean bill of health.
The minister   said following a test conducted on the corpse of Enemuo which showed that he died of the EVD,   Health ministry   officials   placed 70 people who came into contact with him either when he was sick or touched his corpse, under surveillance.
But the Rivers State Government said “about 100 contacts from a hotel, patients of Dr. Enemuo and patients of the hospital where   Enemuo was treated until his demise have been identified and restricted.’’

Chukwu   told journalists that   Enemuo’s death   had   increased the number of deaths recorded as a result of the EVD to six.
He explained that even though the ECOWAS official   did not presently have the EVD,     further laboratory tests indicated that he had suffered the deadly disease before travelling to the oil-rich city.
Chukwu said, “This case (ECOWAS official) would have been of no further interest since he had completed the 21 days of surveillance without any other issue, but for the fact that the doctor who treated him died last Friday, August 22, 2014.

“Following the report of this death by the doctor’s widow the next day, the case had been thoroughly investigated and laboratory analysis showed that this doctor died from EVD.
“As a result, several contacts have now been traced, registered and placed under surveillance. However, because the widow is now symptomatic, she has been quarantined pending the outcome of laboratory tests on her.”
The minister added that the Incident Management Committee had already deployed a very strong team in Port Harcourt to work with the Rivers State’s health authorities.
He assured Nigerians that “just like the situation has effectively been managed in Lagos and Enugu, the situation in Port Harcourt will also similarly be effectively managed and we have begun to do so.’’

He said, “The doctor’s blood sample tested positive after death. Also, 70 persons have been placed under surveillance in Port Harcourt.
“I want to charge the residents of Port Harcourt not to panic over this situation as the experience we have gathered from Lagos and Enugu respectively indicate that there is no cause for alarm when you have the government fully in control of the situation.
“Once again, we appeal to all contacts under surveillance to abide by the advice given to them by the Incident Management Committee.

“With regard to Enugu, all secondary contacts will be followed up till tomorrow (Friday) when they are all expected to be discharged from our surveillance.
He maintained that the total number of cases treated at the isolation ward in Lagos stood at 13 while the total number of those discharged was seven.
The minister added that the only person currently under treatment at the isolation ward was stable and improving clinically.

Also at the news   conference, the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, appealed to Nigerians under surveillance to respect the advice of   medical personnel   pending when they would receive a clean bill of health to travel.
But in Port Hourcourt where some residents feared that   many people who came into contact with Enemuo and the ECOWAS official might   have gone underground, the state government said it acted proactively by placing about 100 persons under surveillance.
A statement by the Rivers State’s Commissioner for Health, Dr. Sampson Parker, quoted Governor Rotimi Amaechi as   urging “every Rivers State citizen and resident to remain calm and go about their normal business.”
The statement read in part, “it is with a heavy heart that I announce to you that the Ebola virus has claimed its first victim in Rivers State.
Dr. Iyke Sam Enemuo died last week Friday, August 22, 2014 as a result of what was suspected to be EVD.

The Rivers State Ministry of Health on becoming aware of the conditions of his death, immediately commenced investigations and contact tracing.
“As of today (Thursday), about 100 contacts from a hotel, patients of Dr. Enemuo and patients of the hospital where the Enemuo was treated until his demise have been identified and restricted in Rivers State. The locations are being decontaminated.

“From our investigations, some facts have emerged. A member of staff of ECOWAS on the team that received the late   Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian-American diplomat, who died of Ebola   in Lagos, made a trip to Port Harcourt where he checked into a hotel and met with Dr.   Enemuo.
“About a week after his departure, Enemuo took ill and was rushed to a hospital where he presented with symptoms of fever, diarrhea and vomiting.
“In the course of treatment, the managing physician became suspicious and took samples for investigation. A few days after,  Enemuo died on August 22, 2014. His body was deposited in a mortuary in Port Harcourt.
“Enemuo’s widow, who is also a medical doctor and who cared for him during his illness, has taken ill. She is being quarantined.

‘‘A few hours ago, results of the test carried out on samples taken from Dr. Enemuo came back and was positive of EVD.”
A resident of Port Harcourt, said in her Facebook post, that   the latest development was a calamity.
“It’s quite a calamity unfolding in Port Harcourt. Unfortunately, the city’s   health facilities are not quite ready to contain Ebola at the moment,” she lamented.
The resident said Enemuo, before he took ill on Tuesday, “operated on a woman on Monday presumably after treating the diplomat.”

She wrote, “He (Enemuo) fell ill next day Tuesday and died last Friday. No one knew about the hotel angle which was a very big risk he took…and unethical thing to do.
“He was ill for three days and then started vomiting blood. He was first rushed to one hospital where he was rejected and then taken to Good Heart Hospital whose owner is a Cardiologist and a consultant physician with the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital . He died there.
“The doctor that died practises in East West Road, Rumuokoro…Sam Steel clinic. The wife, also a doctor, has a three-month-old baby.

“As it is, there may have been well over 200 contacts of this devilish diplomat who lured his young doctor friend to treat him secretly and went back to Lagos. We have to look at the health workers in the Good Heart Hospital, Sam Steel Clinic, the members of staff of the hotel and its guests, those who travelled with the diplomat in the same vehicle(s) or aircraft from Lagos to Port Harcourt, the late doctor’s family members. The list goes on and on.”

The resident ,who is an educationist, added that what played out in this latest development was what she called the “Ostrich mentality of our people.”
She said, “My own take is what is with the foolishness of people who suspect they have Ebola not wanting to subject themselves to straight testing. Don’t they know quick detection could save their lives and those of others?”

Another resident said she was particularly worried that Ebola had reached Port Harcourt, a city where according to her,   social and economic activities are very high.
He said, “Look, I am troubled that this virus in here with us. I am disturbed because I know this state cannot easily trace people who came into contact with the so-called diplomat and the doctor that died.
“I fear that many of the contacts must have travelled to neighbouring states like Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta and even Cross River State.”

Sahara Reporters said on Thursday that Good Heart Hospital, and the hotel where the ECOWAS diplomat allegedly received treatment in Port Harcourt, had been shut down.
However, a member of the Emergency Operation Centre for Ebola in Lagos, Prof. Oyewale Tomori, has argued that the Federal Government and the Lagos State government should not be blamed for the death of the medical doctor in Port Harcourt.
Tomori told one of our correspondents on Thursday that some of the people who had had primary contact with Sawyer, did not cooperate with the monitoring and surveillance committee by evading surveillance.

He said, “Initially many people who came into contact with Sawyer were not forthcoming with the truth. It was difficult to trace some contacts who did not leave any address. They could not trace the ECOWAS diplomat for days. Surveillance is the duty of everyone. And we must follow international guidelines and regulation. If we take your temperature and say we will be back tomorrow by 8am to take another, we expect that you should cooperate, but that was not the case.
“Some even travelled, and their people were also not ready to disclose where they went. Some even denied the degree of contact that they had with Sawyer.”

Tomori who is also a professor of virology noted that though there were no sanctions yet for those who evade surveillance,   such individuals pose great health risk to the nation.
To further contain the outbreak, Tomori advised doctors to treat every case of high fever, vomiting and stooling as a suspected case of Ebola.

He added, “I will say with the new dimension, doctors should assume the worst when they see patients with high fever who are vomiting and stooling. Those with three symptoms of the disease must be put under observation and isolated, while waiting for a test result.
“It is important that we get laboratories where test results can be out within two or three hours. That way you can quickly isolate and begin taking necessary precautions to contain it within the health facility.”

US to begin human testing of Ebola vaccine
Meanwhile, United States researchers will next week start testing humans with an experimental vaccine to prevent the   Ebola virus.
The National Institute of Health announced on Thursday that it was launching the safety trial on a vaccine developed by the agency’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and GlaxoSmithKline.

It will test 20 healthy adult volunteers to see if the virus is safe and triggers an adequate response in their immune systems.
That testing, according to the Associated Press, will be at NIH’s campus in Bethesda, Maryland. Later in September, NIH and a British team will test the vaccine on volunteers in the United Kingdom, Gambia and Mali.
American health officials are also talking about a future trial in Nigeria.

Ebola cases could reach 20,000 – WHO
In Geneva, Switzerland, the World Health Organisation said on Thursday that the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa could exceed 20,000 cases, more than six times as many as are now known.
A new plan by the United Nations health agency to stop Ebola   assumes that the actual number of cases in many hard-hit areas may be two to four times higher than currently reported.
If that is accurate, it suggests there could be up to 12,000 cases already,out of which 1,552 people are dead in West Africa alone.

“This far outstrips any historic Ebola outbreak in numbers. The largest outbreak in the past was about 400 cases,” Dr. Bruce Aylward, WHO’s assistant director-general for emergency operations, told reporters in Geneva, Switzerland.
Source: Punch

BOKO HARAM OCCUPIES ARMY BASE, GIVES ORDERS IN GAMBORU

Boko Haram insurgents are intensifying territorial conquests as they have occupied the army base in Gamboru town in Borno State which they took over on Monday, witnesses said yesterday.
They have also taken over the Vocational Training Centre in Gamboru by stationing dozens of their fighters there and are giving orders to residents.

On the other hand, hundreds of Cameroo-nian soldiers are on alert at the border between Nigeria and Cameroon, apparently in readiness to confront the insurgents in case they make any move to encroach into their territories, sources said.
A source said they are currently near Fotokol, across the river that also serves as border between Nigeria and Cameroon.

On the other hand, 480 soldiers who veered into Cameroon on Monday are reportedly have returned to Nigeria through Adamawa State.
Various sources in Gamboru who spoke to our correspondent by phone, said Nigerian soldiers are yet to return to the town after they retreated into the neighbouring country following a fierce fight with the insurgents on Monday.

“We are still at the mercy of the Boko Haram insurgents who have taken absolute control of Gamboru since yesterday,” Mukhtar Aliyu Modu, one of the residents who still lives in Gamboru said.
“The insurgents have everything, including sophisticated guns, armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and many other vehicles. They also have countless motorcycles. Some of them are currently patrolling Gamboru but they did not kill anybody or attack our houses, shops and other personal effects.

“I cannot tell you how many they (Boko Haram) are but from all indications, they are in hundreds because they have divided themselves into many subgroups. They are going round talking to people, not really preaching…they are saying those who are not willing to stay should quietly move out of the town, insisting that they did not come to kill us,” Modu said.
Another resident of Gamboru who gave his name as Makinta told our correspondent that they are still living in fear.

“The insurgents are in charge and we were terrified in the morning when we heard about 10 simultaneous sounds of explosives. We thought the insurgents had started destroying our town but later found out that the explosives were buried near the border between Nigeria and Cameroon. I think it was the insurgents that buried them to serve as traps g but luckily enough, nobody, either civilian or Nigerian troops passed through the area while fleeing to Cameroon at the height of the fight on Monday,” Makinta said.
He said at about 4pm yesterday, the Boko Haram insurgents did not make any move to confront the Cameroonian troops who were around Fotokol, one of the major towns in Cameroon that is not far from Nigeria.

Meanwhile, findings by our correspondents reveal that Gwoza which Abubakar Shekau declared as an ‘Islamic Caliphate” in a video released on Sunday is still under control of the Boko Haram. Credible sources said Nigerian troops are yet to mobilize to the town which was subdued on August 6th.

While dozens of people, most especially youths, have been killed at the height of the crisis, it was gathered that almost all the locals in the town, which has a population of over 50,000 have fled.
“As far as I know, there is nobody in Gwoza except the insurgents,” a senior official from Gwoza said.

“In the past few days, even the old people who could not move to anywhere were taken out by the Boko Haram. They put them in vehicles and drove to the outskirts of Limankara, 16 kilometers away and left them there. Both Limankara village, the police training school there, Pulka village and dozens of communities around Gwoza are all under the control of the Boko Haram,” the official said.
Another said the insurgents are holding court at the emir’s palace in Gwoza.
“As you are aware, part of the administrative unit of the palace was destroyed but the insurgents are using the remaining part as their headquarters,” he said.
Source: Daily Trust

Ebola: FG closes all schools till oct 13 •Suspends summer classes, international seminars

THE Federal Government, on Tuesday, announced that all private and public primary and secondary schools should remain closed till October 13, as preventive measure against the spread of the deadly Ebola virus disease in the country.

Minister of Education, Mallam Shekarau Ibrahim, who briefed newsmen in Abuja after a consultative meeting with state commissioners of education, warned that it would be a criminal act for any school to reopen from the holidays, in contravention of the directive.

Shekarau said it was a unanimous decision of the stakeholders at the meeting that the schools remained shut, while the Federal Government continued in the efforts to eradicate the epidemic in the country.
The minister also announced immediate suspension of all organised summer classes going on in the country.

The Federal Government also ordered all tertiary institutions to suspend forthwith, staff and students exchange programmes, as well as major international seminars and workshops until further notice.
Shekarau told newsmen that all state Ministry of Education had been similarly directed to work in collaboration with health workers in the monitoring of the schools before and after reopening.

He said each private and public school would be required to train, at least, two desk officers, in collaboration with ministry of health officials on how to handle any suspected case of Ebola and also embark on immediate sensitisation of all teaching and non-teaching staff in all schools on preventive measures.

“Myself and all state commissioners of education met today,  August 26, to discuss issues related to the reopening of schools for the new academic year (2014/2015) vis-à-vis the Ebola epidemic issue.
“The meeting was also attended by senior officials of the Federal Ministry of Health. At the end of the meeting, the following decisions, among others, were arrived at as preventive measures to ensure the safety and well-being of all students in our schools throughout the federation.

“All primary and secondary schools, both public and private, are to remain closed until Monday, October 13, 2014 which is the new school resumption date for all schools throughout the federation. This is to ensure that adequate preventive measures are put in place before the students report back to school.

“All state Ministries of Education are to immediately organise and ensure that at least two staffers in each school, both public and private, are trained by appropriate health workers on how to handle any suspected case of Ebola and also embark on immediate sensitisation of all teaching and non-teaching staff in all schools on preventive measures. This training of staff must be concluded not later than September 15, 2014.

He charged all primary and secondary schools to comply with the directives, while calling for support by state ministries of education, to ensure effective implementation of the preventive measures.
Shekarau added that a meeting with all state commissioners of education will hold on September 23, to review the situation in all states.
Source: Tribune