Tag: Ebola

  • Yuletide: FCT scales up disease surveillance over Ebola, Cholera, Monkeypox, others – FCTA

    Yuletide: FCT scales up disease surveillance over Ebola, Cholera, Monkeypox, others – FCTA

    By Joyce Remi-Babayeju

    The FCT Administration said it has scaled up it’s surveillance system in order to checkmate diseases like Ebola, Cholera, Monkeypox, Meningitis, COVID-19 and measles outbreaks in the Territory.

    The FCT Health and Human Services Secretariat , HHSS, said it’s Epidemiology Division is in high alert mode on all diseases capable of posing morbidity on humans.

    Director, FCT Public Health Departme Dr. Sadiq Abdulrahaman, disclosed this while briefing the media on the state of preparedness and response of the FCTA health sector, in Abuja.

    Accordding to Dr. Sadiq Abdulrahaman, the FCT is on a high alert mode, as part of proactive measures taken, even though it have not witnessed any serious outbreak of the diseases within the year ending,

    He explained that periodically, there is a weekly review, in conjunction with FCTA partners like WHO, NCDC and Disease Surveillance and Notification officers, who are key foot soldiers at the Area Councils level.

    He said, “for Ebola viral disease, which is a big global disease of public health concern, though it is not yet witnessed in Nigeria except for the last case in 2014, but we are aware that there is already an outbreak in DRC Congo, with so much consequences from quite a number of deaths, and closure of schools. So, here (FCl) we have executed a high alert mode even though we have not witnessed any case yet.”

    “So, proactive measures have been taken. Our surveillance system is heightened, and the FCT Administration bought quite a number commodities particularly for these key diseases like Cholera that we witnessed in 2021.”

    ” We went on advocacy visits to key stakeholders especially in those Area Councils that had high potent of the disease during the outbreak such as AMAC, Kuje and Bwari.”

    “The Epidemiological Division of the Department, under FCT Health and Human Services Secretariat (HHSS), have gone into alert mode of all these diseases including incidence managers for COVID-19, Cholera, monkey pox and so on.”

    “Also, there is ongoing training retraining of our health workers especially those involved in periodic reporting of these diseases.”

    “Of course, with awareness creation and support from stakeholders especially the media is key to getting to the grassroot, as it can only be mitigated if those in the hinterlands get timely and right information, in order to take the right decision concerning their health”.

    Dr. Abdulrahaman noted, “For cerebral spinal meningitis, from january to date, we witnessed zero case, for cholera witnessed only two suspected cases, and zero laboratory confirmed; and for viral hemorrhagic fever specially Lassa fever which is endemic, we had 11 suspected cases and only one laboratory confirmed with no death. “

    “For measles, we had about 245 suspected cases, and zero laboratory confirmed. And for Monkey pox, which had brought a wave in recent past, cumulatively, we had about 58 suspected cases, with 9 confirmed in the FCT from January to date”.

    “On COVID-19, the Director, noted that despite the presidential directive on 12th December, 2022, relaxing of safety measures and travel advisory in the country, there is still emphasis on issues around gathering, the use of masks and travel protocols especially for the vulnerable groups, as the deadly disease still surges in the world.”

    “We are not yet celebrating, as the disease has diffused in most countries including Nigeria. So, the pronouncement from the Presidential steering Committee was as a result of sustained reduction in both clinical and laboratory tests visa vice infection transmission of the disease.”

    He awarded a good mark on the FCT and said, “Good enough, at the FCT level, we have been recording zero case. From the ongoing test specifically from our public health facilities and registered consortium of laboratories, which have testing travelers, the report still record zero case as at week 49.”

  • Uganda Confirms six more cases of Ebola Including one Death

    Uganda Confirms six more cases of Ebola Including one Death

    The World Health Organization has announced that six new cases of Ebola have been found in Uganda, just after the country reported its first fatality from the highly contagious virus since 2019.

    The cases confirmed on Thursday September 22, include a 24-year-old man who died this week after he developed a high fever, diarrhoea and abdominal pain, in addition to vomiting blood. After initially being treated for malaria, he was diagnosed as having contracted the Sudan strain of the Ebola virus.

    Seven other deaths are being investigated as suspected cases of a strain for which the authorities do not yet have a vaccine, officials said.

    Abdou Salam Gueye, regional emergency director with the WHO Regional Office for Africa said in a statement;

    “So far, seven cases, including one death, have been confirmed to have contracted the Sudan ebolavirus.

    “Forty-three contacts have been identified and 10 people suspected to have caught the virus are receiving treatment at the regional referral hospital in Mubende.

    “Our experts are already on the ground working with Uganda’s experienced Ebola control teams to reinforce surveillance, diagnosis, treatment, and preventive measures.”

    Ugandan authorities have not yet found the source of the outbreak, or “patient zero” – the key first case.

    But they were able to pinpoint the epicentre of the outbreak, which is the central Ugandan district of Mubende, whose main town lies along a highway into the capital, Kampala. That travel link and several crowded artisanal gold mines there are concerning, Bbosa told the World Health Organization.

    Ebola, which is spread by contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person or contaminated materials, manifests as a deadly haemorrhagic fever. Symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, muscle pain and at times internal and external bleeding.

    Uganda last reported an outbreak of the Ebola Sudan strain in 2012.

  • WHO Declares An End To Second Ebola Outbreak In Guinea

    WHO Declares An End To Second Ebola Outbreak In Guinea

    The World Health Organization on Saturday officially announced the end of Guinea’s second Ebola outbreak which was declared on February 14.

    “I have the honour of declaring the end of Ebola” in Guinea, WHO official Alfred Ki-Zerbo said at a ceremony in the southeastern Nzerekore region where the disease surfaced at the end of January.

    It was the second such outbreak in the poor country of 13 million people since the devastating 2013-2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa, which left 11,300 dead in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

    Ebola causes severe fever and, in the worst cases, unstoppable bleeding.

    It is transmitted through close contact with bodily fluids, and people who live with or care for patients are most at risk.

    Guinea reacted quickly to this year’s outbreak, however, building on its previous experience of fighting the disease.

    Among other measures, the country launched an Ebola vaccination campaign this year with the help of the WHO.

  • 2019-nCoV fatalities far lower than H1N1, Ebola

    2019-nCoV fatalities far lower than H1N1, Ebola

    The fatality rate of confirmed novel coronavirus-related pneumonia cases in China was 2.1 percent as of Monday night, February 3, far below previous international outbreaks of H1N1 flu, MERS and Ebola viruses, Chinese officials said.

    The death rate for this novel coronavirus epidemic is around 2.1 percent in China, much lower than other epidemics, and since Saturday, we have seen more people recovering from the disease than dying from it, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying made the remarks on Tuesday’s online media briefing.

    The death rate from the 2009 H1N1 flu in the US was 17.4 percent, and the 2012 MERS death rate was 34.4 percent, while the number for Ebola was 40.4 percent.

    However, the fatality rate of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in Wuhan was 4.9 percent, significantly higher than the national rate of 2.1 percent, the Chinese National Health Commission (NHC) said at a press conference on Tuesday, explaining that the gap was due to the fact that Wuhan’s early treatment capacity was way below demand.

    There were only three designated hospitals to treat severe novel coronavirus-related pneumonia patients in Wuhan at the early stages, with only 110 beds which were far from enough, said Jiao Yahui, an official with the NHC.

    Apart from the designated hospitals, patients infected with novel coronavirus were distributed in more than 20 medical institutions across the city, lacking unified management and efficient distribution of high-quality medical resources, causing a relatively high fatality rate, Jiao said.

    The shortage of medical supplies in the fight against the novel coronavirus is still very prominent at the frontline, especially the shortage of medical protective suits and N95 masks, the commission confirmed.

    The number of medical personnel dispatched to Wuhan in efforts to combat the outbreak is expected to reach 10,000 in total by Wednesday, Jiao said.

    A total of 15,000 fever clinics and 2,092 designated hospitals were set up across the mainland to fight the epidemic, meeting basic needs of patients, except for Hubei, center of the epidemic.

    More than 3,000 medical staff from major hospitals in a dozen of provinces will be dispatched to take over the newly designated inpatient wards in Wuhan that receive critical patients suffering from the virus, Jiao said.