Ebola: Panic in Enugu over alleged 21 cases

Fear, panic and confusion continued to reign in Enugu yesterday following confirmation by the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, on Wednesday that 21 persons were feared to have had contact with a nurse, who visited Enugu recently and who partook in the treatment of the late Patrick Sawyer, are being kept under surveillance somewhere in the state.

The report had brought confusion among Enugu residents most of whom had, out of panic, withdrawn their children from holiday lessons just as handshakes were gradually becoming a taboo.

The state Commissioner for Health, Dr. George Eze, at a press conference yesterday announced that the state government had set up four isolation centres in Ikem, Oji-river, Nsukka and Colliery district hospitals.

The commissioner confirmed that the primary contact that visited Enugu was quickly identified and put in isolation while the husband was being quarantined.

In an earlier press chat, the Chairman of Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Enugu chapter, Dr. George Ugwu, expressed concerns about the development disclosing that doctors in the state and all the hospitals in Enugu were also in a state of relative confusion as to where to send suspected cases of Ebola.

“Even before the Federal Government accepted that there was a primary contact in Enugu, we got wind of the information that one of the persons, who treated the primary contact in Lagos found her way to Enugu. We made contacts and found out that it was true.

“The government responded and took away the woman and her immediate contacts; but the woman stayed for some days and we even have it on good source that she even attended a wedding ceremony but we are not too sure at what point.

“We are concerned because Enugu has an international airport coupled with this visit of a primary contact.

“We are requesting that designated place be put in place and appropriate personal protective equipment provided for health workers. Part of our concern is also the issue of ensuring that the health workers who are at the frontline of this outbreak are protected.

“We don’t even know as we speak, where to source the personal protective equipment; who pays; where is it? We are even ready to buy; they say it is only World Health Organisation (WHO) that supplies it; we made enquiries, we have tried to push in the ministry. Doctors in Enugu are worried, concerned and confused,” Ugwu stated.