Photos: Governor Fashola hosts some Ebola survivors - Linda Ikeji Blog

Dr Emenuo Kelechi (left), Dr Ibeawuchi Morris (second left),
Dr Fadipe Akinniyi (centre), Mr. Dennis Akagha
(late Nurse Justina Ejelonu's fiance) and Dr Adaora Igonoh

Lagos state Governor, Babatunde Fashola, today September 18th, hosted some Ebola survivors at his office at the state Secretariat in Alausa, Ikeja. Speaking with the survivors, the governor commended them for coming forward to share their experiences, saying that they are proof that the disease is not a death sentence.

The survivors in attendance included the widow of late Port Harcourt doctor, Dr Emenuo Kelechi (left), Dr Ibeawuchi Morris (second left), Dr Fadipe Akinniyi (centre), Mr. Dennis Akagha (late Nurse Justina Ejelonu's fiance) and Dr Adaora Igonoh.

While sharing their experiences, one of the survivors and staff of First Consultant Hospital, Dr. Ibeabuchi Morris, said he was the first to receive late Sawyer at the hospital where he was first treated for Malaria.

Ebola: 2nd Doctor Infected by Patrick Sawyer Survives, Tells the Full Sawyer Story

Ebola: 2nd Doctor Infected by Patrick Sawyer Survives, Tells the Full Sawyer Story

Dr. Ada Igonoh

Dr. Ada Igonoh of First Consultants Hospital is one of the doctors who attended to Patrick Sawyer.
She eventually got infected with the virus but miraculously survived. Dr. Ada Igonoh shared her very moving, gripping story with BellaNaija and it is a must read, guys. Story is very long but gosh, you have to read this!!!

On the night of Sunday July 20, 2014, Patrick Sawyer was wheeled into the Emergency Room at First Consultants Medical Centre, Obalende, Lagos, with complaints of fever and body weakness. The male doctor on call admitted him as a case of malaria and took a full history. Knowing that Mr. Sawyer had recently arrived from Liberia, the doctor asked if he had been in contact with an Ebola patient in the last couple of weeks, and Mr. Sawyer denied any such contact.

He also denied attending any funeral ceremony recently. Blood samples were taken for
full blood count, malaria parasites, liver function test and other baseline investigations. He was admitted into a private room and started on antimalarial drugs and analgesics. That night, the full blood count result
came back as normal and not indicative of infection.

The following day however, his condition worsened. He barely ate any of his meals. His liver function test result showed his liver enzymes were markedly elevated. We then took samples for HIV and hepatitis screening.

Ebola: Wife of late doctor discharged

The Federal Government yesterday announced the successful management and discharge of the wife of Late Dr Iyke Enemuo, who secretly treated a primary contact of an American – Liberian, Patrick Sawyer, who imported the dreaded Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, into the country, even as it confirmed that a student of Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, suspected to have had contact with the late doctor in Port Harcourt has been quarantined.

In a statement issued yesterday, the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu said the latest discharge has brought the total number of EVD survivors in Nigeria to 12.
Chukwu further explained that at the moment, there is no single case of confirmed EVD in Nigeria.
He, however, disclosed that a suspected case of EVD from an undergraduate of Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, who had contact with the late Port Harcourt doctor at a naming ceremony in Port Harcourt has been quarantined and was being investigated.

Chukwu, in the latest update on the status of EVD in Nigeria put the total number of confirmed cases in Nigeria at 19, 15 in Lagos and 4 in Port Harcourt.

“The total number of deaths from EVD in Nigeria stands at seven, Five of these died in Lagos, one in a private hospital, the index (first) case Mr. Sawyer, and the other four in the isolation ward in Lagos State.

“Two of the seven died in Port Harcourt, the medical doctor, who died in a private hospital and the contact, a patient in the hospital at the time the doctor was also on admission, who died in the isolation ward in Rivers State, “ he explained

“The total number of patients who have been successfully managed and discharged is now 10.”

Source: Vanguard News

FG fixes Sept 22 as schools resumption date

The Federal Government has fixed Monday, September 22, 2014 as new school resumption date.

The government had on August 26, postponed resumption of private and public primary as well as secondary schools to October 13, 2014, as a precautionary step against the spread of the Ebola virus.

Source: The Punch

Ebola outbreak: Senegal confirms first case

Ebola outbreak: Senegal confirms first case
Senegal had already closed its borders to neighbouring Guinea to try to stop the spread of the virus
Senegal's health minister has confirmed a first case of Ebola, making it the fifth West African country to be affected by the outbreak.
Awa Marie Coll Seck told reporters on Friday that a young man from Guinea had travelled to Senegal despite having been infected with the virus.
The man was immediately placed in quarantine, she added.
The current outbreak, which began in Guinea, has killed more than 1,500 people across the region.
At least 3,000 people have been infected with the virus. The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned it could get much worse and infect more than 20,000 people.

PRESIDENT CONDEMNS DISCRIMINATION AGAINST NIGERIANS OVER EBOLA

PRESIDENT CONDEMNS DISCRIMINATION AGAINST NIGERIANS OVER EBOLA, WELCOMES UN'S COMMENDATION OF FG'S SUCCESSFUL AVOIDANCE OF NATIONAL EPIDEMIC

Dr. Adadevoh

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Wednesday in Abuja condemned the stigmatization of Nigerians by some countries over recent cases of the Ebola Virus Disease in the country.
Speaking at a meeting with Mr. David Navarro, a Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General, President Jonathan particularly denounced discriminatory actions such as that which forced Nigeria's team to the Youth Olympics in China to abandon its participation.
Noting that there was no justification for such stigmatization of Nigerians since the Ebola Virus Disease had been effectively  contained in the country and never attained epidemic levels, the President called for the cessation of discriminatory actions against Nigerians over the virus and urged the UN Secretary General, Mr.  Ban Ki Moon  to support the call.
Responding to the Secretary General's commendation of Nigeria's management of the threat of Ebola, President Jonathan praised the Federal Ministry of Health, the Lagos State Government and all Nigerians for the success achieved so far in containing the virus and avoiding a national epidemic.
"All hands have been on deck to contain the virus here. I commend my team and the Lagos State Government. We have been able to set politics aside and work in unison to deal with a national threat.

Setback in EVD War: Ebola hits P-Harcourt, one dies, 100 isolated

Rivers State. Governor of the state, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi

ABUJA—The battle to contain the spread of the Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, in Nigeria suffered a setback, yesterday, as the virus evaded a surveillance team in Lagos and claimed its first victim, a medical doctor in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Governor of the state, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and the Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu both confirmed the news.
Speaking in Port Harcourt, Governor Amaechi in a special broadcast said: “We woke up this morning to the sad confirmation that the dreaded Ebola Virus Disease has claimed its first victim in Rivers State.

Doctor dies of Ebola in Rivers – FG

Nigeria has confirmed its first Ebola death outside Lagos – a doctor in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, said the doctor had died on August 22, but the results of the tests have only just been made public.

A further 70 people are under surveillance in the city, while his wife, who has taken ill, has been put under quarantine.

The doctor had treated a patient, who later recovered, who had met Patrick Sawyer, the man who took Ebola from Liberia to Nigeria.

West Africa’s health ministers are meeting later to discuss how to tackle the world’s most deadly Ebola outbreak.

Source: The Punch

PRESIDENT JONATHAN CALLS FOR MORE U.S. INVESTMENT IN NIGERIA AS BILATERAL TRADE VOLUME HITS $36 BILLION

President Paul Kagame Of Rwanda; President Goodluck Jonathan;
President Mahamadou Issoufou Of Niger Republic And President
Hifikepunye Pohamba Of Namibia At The U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit
in Washington D.C on Wednesday (6/8/14)

PRESIDENT JONATHAN CALLS FOR MORE U.S. INVESTMENT IN NIGERIA AS BILATERAL TRADE VOLUME HITS $36 BILLION
President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan said late Wednesday  in Washington DC that the volume of trade between Nigeria and the United States, which has risen to a record level of $36 Billion per annum, will continue to grow with greater cooperation between Nigeria and its allies in the United States Government and private sector.
Speaking at a dinner held in his honour by the United States Chambers of Commerce and the Corporate Council on Africa, President Jonathan said that his administration welcomed the support of the Obama Administration and both organisations for ongoing efforts to positively transform the Nigerian economy and  ensure that it becomes one of the twenty largest economies in the world by the year 2020.

US AID Workers with Ebola Improved after receiving Untested Serum

Kent Brantly

Washington (Alliance News) - An American doctor suffering from Ebola was improving at an Atlanta hospital, officials said, as reports emerged Monday that he had received an experimental serum while still in Africa and near death.

The doctor, Kent Brantly, received a dose of an experimental serum before he left Liberia on Saturday, the Christian charity he was working for said in a statement.

Another American aid worker, Nancy Writebol, who also fell ill in Liberia after exposure to the Ebola virus, also received the serum, Samaritan's Purse said. Her condition has improved and she is due to be flown to the US on Tuesday.

Nigerian female doctor tests positive to Ebola

ABUJA—The Federal Government has confirmed the first case of Ebola Virus Disease in a Nigerian medical doctor, who was among the people that had the first contact with Mr. Patrick Sawyer, the deceased Liberian and first confirmed Ebola victim in the country.

Men clean their shop in Monrovia where offices were closed for disinfection against the epidemic
of the haemorrhagic fever Ebola on August 1, 2014. The head of the World Health Organization and
presidents of the west African countries suffering the world’s worst-ever Ebola outbreak meet in
Guinea today to launch a $100 million (75 million euros) emergency joint response plan. AFP

Men clean their shop in Monrovia where offices were closed for disinfection against the epidemic of the haemorrhagic fever Ebola on August 1, 2014. The head of the World Health Organization and presidents of the west African countries suffering the world's worst-ever Ebola outbreak meet in Guinea today to launch a $100 million (75 million euros) emergency joint response plan.

Men clean their shop in Monrovia where offices were closed for disinfection against the epidemic of the haemorrhagic fever Ebola on August 1, 2014. The head of the World Health Organization and presidents of the west African countries suffering the world’s worst-ever Ebola outbreak meet in Guinea today to launch a $100 million (75 million euros) emergency joint response plan.

Doctor who treated dead Liberian tests positive to Ebola

A Lagos doctor who treated the Liberian man that died few days ago of Ebola Virus has tested positive to the Virus, Nigeria’s Minister of Health said on Monday.

Late Patrick Sawyer flew in to Lagos en-route a trip to Calabar for an official assignment but fell ill in the aircraft.

The Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, also said that eight persons that had first degree contact with the Liberian before he got to the hospital had also been quarantined and are under strict observation.

Source: The Punch

Ebola Scare in Anambra: Govt detains corpse from Liberia

Medical doctors attending to an Ebola virus disease victim

AWKA —A CORPSE of an Anambra State indigene brought from Liberia, yesterday, caused scare of the dreaded Ebola disease in the state, with officials of the state ministry of health directing security operatives to cordon off the mortuary where the body was deposited pending investigations by experts from the Federal Ministry of Health.
The corpse was brought into the country as a cargo and was taken straight to Apex Hospital and Mortuary at Nkwelle Ezunaka in Oyi Local Government Area of the state, apparently by his relations and waiting for burial.
However, somebody from the community, who knew that the man died in Liberia where there have been deaths caused by Ebola disease, informed the Anambra State Governor, Chief Willie Obiano. The Governor immediately directed the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Josephat Akabike to take action.

Ebola: 69 under watch, two isolated, says FG

The Federal Government has placed 69 persons who had first contact with the Liberian-born victim of Ebola Virus Disease, Patrick Sawyerr, on surveillance, while two persons have been quarantined, the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, has said.

He also said government had not shut its borders for now, “except when it becomes necessary.”

According to him, the 69 persons will be under surveillance for a period of three weeks from the date of contact in line with the specifications of the World Health Organisation.

The minister at a joint press briefing with the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, on Thursday on the update of the virus, said Sawyerr with dual citizenship from both Liberia and United States, was confirmed dead barely four days after arrival in Nigeria.