Ebola: Should safety measures be taken for granted?

One piece of information that has been inthe air for sometime now has do with preventive and precautionary measures to avoid the disease, like not eating bush meat and suya, as the virus is said to have emanated from antelopes, bats monkeys and chimpanzees. When news about the presence of Ebola in Nigeria first broke out, people received it with mixed feelings.
The National Association of Hunters is one of the groups that have been greatly affected by the warning on the consumption of bush meat. They didn’t keep quiet as they addressed journalist to tell the government to stop telling people not to consume bush meat as this has affected their business and rendered some of them unemployed. It is funny, that even with the fear this disease has raised amongst people, some still refuse the precaution of the abstinence from bush meat for now. To this regard life extra spoke to a cross section of people to find out if safety measures should be taken for granted.
 Chris Emaobino, a youth corps member said. “I ate bush meat yesterday,” adding that: “I remember the case of bird flu, we Nigerians still ate chicken not minding the warnings against it; so what is the difference with the case of Ebola. The good thing about all of this is the fact that the price of bush meat has dropped, now bush meat is cheaper to buy because the demand for it is low, thereby making low income earners like me to afford it. I bought a full bush rat for one N1500, on like before when I bought it for N3000-N4000. The only precaution I took was that I boiled the meat more than I used to.”
But Victor Alebe, a student of Ozoro Polytechnic in Delta State, expressed a different view: “Safety measures should not be over-looked at all. The federal ministry of health has warned that people should stop consuming bush meat. I don’t think they should stop there, I expect they should prevent the hunters from killing them because if they get infected, they are sure going to spread the disease more than the monkeys and the likes of other bush meat.”
Joseph Uchenna, a businessman, opines that: “It is highly recommended that the general public take up the safety measures against the consumption of bush meat as regards Ebola. This should be so because an authenticated cure is not yet available.” He added that anyone who gets infected by the deadly disease stands a strong chance of infecting others if not quickly quarantined thereby aiding the rapid spread of the virus. “I for one think that every individual takes into consideration measures to avert the spread of the disease, not just for their sake but also for the sake of the general public,” Uchenna advised.
Ibukunoluwa Amao, who is self-employed, is of the view that: “Being safety conscious can save lives. Ebola virus is not like HIV that can be lived with. To me it is a death sentence. If staying away from bush meat would serve as a preventive measure despite my love for it, then its best it is avoided. Those who refuse to obey must have their reasons but I think those reasons are not good enough because health is wealth. Imagine this, a patient with diabetes is asked to stay away from food or drinks that contain sugaror starch and such a patient refuses to heed this advice, what do you think would happen to that patient? To me this is applicable to Ebola, after all it is just a preventive measure for now and besides there are other options of meat that one can eat.”
Gregory Omearah noted that: “Bush meat is very tasty especially when taken with palm wine.” He added however that: “Safety measures should not be over-looked or taken for granted because heath is important. It is important to note that asides the sweet taste of bush meat we as individuals should also consider the sweet memories of loved ones and so should think about if they get infected by not taken a simple precaution, how that would affect their families and loved ones. At such it is wise that bush meat should be avoided for now because only the living can experience sweet moments and still have the chance to eat bush meat.”
Charles Imafidhon, who is also self-employed, believes that eating or and selling bush meat should be prohibited for now: “Aside monkeys, apes and bats, other animals that can serve as a transmission of the deadly disease are not known. So it is better to keep away. But for those who cannot do without it, I think measures should be taken or given to them on how to properly cook the meat because I know virus can’t withstand heat.”
Standard precautions against Ebola have been recommended to prevent being infected, which apart from the consumption of bush meat, include washing your hands always, making use of hand sanitizers, avoiding handshakes and body contact and if you notice someone with the symptoms associated with Ebola, such a person should be reported to the federal ministry of health or asked to check into the hospital immediately to avoid the spread of the disease. All of these didn’t raise any eyebrow, except the consumption of bush meat. There is a popular saying that‘it is better to be safe than sorry.’ Take precaution now to safe yourself and those close to, and in fact other innocent people, from Ebola.