Alert on Ebola

On February 7, 2021, the Minister of Health of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) declared an outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) after the laboratory confirmation of one case in its North Kivu Province. DRC had on November 18, 2020, declared its 11th Ebola outbreak.

And on February 14, 2021, Guinea declared an EVD outbreak. As at February 18, 2021, seven Ebola cases (three confirmed and four probable) had been identified, including five deaths.

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The news sent alarm bells ringing across the West African sub-region, with Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha, alerting Nigerians to the fresh outbreaks in the neighbouring countries.

The news of the outbreak in Guinea is disturbing as the last Ebola outbreak in the West African sub-region occurred between 2014 and 2015 and affected Liberia, Sierra Leone  Guinea and Nigeria.

It was the world’s deadliest Ebola outbreak as more than 11,300 deaths were recorded. Among these were over 500 health workers. This was out of 28,000 cases reported.

The Ebola virus at that time came into Nigeria on July 20, 2014, through an infected Liberian man, who arrived in Lagos aboard an aeroplane.

Ebola is named after the DRC’s Ebola River, near which the virus was discovered by Belgian microbiologist Peter Piot and his team in 1976.

The virus is transmitted to humans from wild animals such as non-human primates, monkeys and antelopes. It is then spread by hunters or people slaughtering these animals as they come into contact with infected blood and tissues.

It is estimated by the World Health Organisation (WHO) that Ebola has a 50 per cent fatality rate. It does not kill within a day but has an incubation period of between two and 21 days. People get progressively sicker as the virus multiplies in their bodies.

Ebola is known to spread rapidly from human to human through direct contacts, fluids and contaminated materials from an infected person.

The news of an Ebola outbreak at this time is alarming, considering that the continent, and indeed the world, is still battling the coronavirus. The good news, however, is that West African countries are better placed today to deal with Ebola than they were seven years ago. They have the experience of the past, as well as new tools to tackle Ebola, including an experienced workforce, much more developed laboratory systems and better regional cooperation.

For example, one of the outcomes of a 2018 planning meeting in Freetown, Sierra Leone, was to prepare for cross-border transmission. A WhatsApp platform was developed that provided for real-time tracking of outbreaks. It is now operational and is being used to transmit updates from Guinea to the surveillance and response teams from member countries.

Despite these experiences, which we hope countries will harness to fight the disease, no nation should take the current outbreak lightly. WHO has warned that the worst mistake anyone can make about Ebola is to underestimate it or to think they know all about it.

In Nigeria, surveillance teams must be activated to work with hospitals and clinics. Most importantly, medical and immigration officials in all the nation’s air, land and sea entry points should be on alert. Enlightenment campaign should be embarked upon.

As checks are being carried out at the airports as part of efforts to combat the coronavirus, the same should be replicated at our land borders.

The surveillance teams must look out for persistent cases of fever, headache, joint pain and redness of the eyes. The high levels of alertness and preparedness used to stop its devastating effects during the 2014 outbreak must be activated and sustained. All efforts must be made to ensure there is no outbreak of Ebola in Nigeria as the country cannot afford the outbreak of such a deadly disease at this stage.

Battling the coronavirus is a huge challenge in itself, another disease will be unimaginable. An outbreak of Ebola would deal a devastating blow to the nation’s health, psyche and infrastructure. Therefore, the government at all levels and indeed all Nigerians must play their roles to keep the disease at bay.