FCTA refutes report of Ebola in Abuja
Authorities of the FCT Health and Human Services Secretariat at the weekend denied any case of Ebola infection within the territory as reported in some media, which was said to have killed a medical student.
Public Relations Officer of the secretariat, Mr Badaru Yakasai, said that the office of the FCT Health Secretary monitored the suspected case.
He said the case was referred to Irrua Specialist Hospital and tested for Lassa fever (which has similar clinical presentations as Ebola) and the test result was negative.
According to him: “The FCT Department of Public Health under the Health and Human Services Secretariat, whose mandate is to investigate and report the outcome of all suspected outbreaks, is in contact with Irrua Specialist Hospital and the centre confirmed that no Ebola has been confirmed in this case. However, samples have been taken to a more specialised centre with facility to do further investigations on the sample.”
He said the FCT Department of Public Health, Health and Human Services Secretariat, is collaborating with the Federal Ministry of Health to obtain more information from the family members of the suspected case and the various healthcare facilities where the suspected case was managed.
Badaru said the secretary has assured that the FCT Administration, through its Health and Human Services Secretariat, is concerned about the well-being of its residents.
It will be recalled that about three weeks ago, the international community was been alerted on the outbreak of Ebola in some African countries, although Nigeria has no confirmed case of Ebola, a disease transmitted to people from wild animals such as bats, baboons, monkeys, gorilla, etc.
Ebola is transmitted into the human population through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other body fluids of infected persons.
The disease has the following symptoms: sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, internal and external bleeding.
It has also been reported that the interval from infection to onset of symptoms varies between 2 to 21 days and there is no known treatment or vaccine yet available for Ebola.