The federal government yesterday announced that it has applied for a Japanese drug in the treatment of Ebola virus disease.
Minister of health Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, who was speaking at the opening of the second emergency National Health Council on Health meeting, said apart from the Japanese drug the country was applying for the TKM-Ebola drug alongside two other vaccines which have been identified by the Treatment Research Group.
He said, Following the Treatment and Research Groups recommendation, and in consultation with NAFADAC and NHREC, Nigeria has indicated interest to participate in the clinical trials for two candidate EVD vaccines and are considering a third that may be added to the list. We have also applied for experimental drugs such as TKM-Ebola.
Chukwu said the Treatment and Research Group has submitted a detailed profile and brief on the oral antiviral agent which the Japanese government has offered to make available to affected countries through the World Health Organisation (WHO).
He explained, Our initial knowledge of the agent is that it has been shown to have strong antiviral activity against the influenza virus following phases I and II human trials; it is now going through phase III clinical trials; it is shown to have strong antiviral property against Ebola virus in vitro and in vivo. These and the fact that it is considered safe, having passed through phase I and II clinical trials, make it a good candidate drug for use in emergency situation as the EVD.
We are now considering this profile and brief to enable us reach a final decision on making it available to our patients, he said.
3 show symptoms in Port Harcourt, 199 under surveillance
Meanwhile, the minister who was giving an update on the EVD outbreak in the country, disclosed that three other contacts of the dead Port Harcourt doctor another medical doctor and pharmacists who treated him are symptomatic and have been admitted in the isolation wards in Rivers State.
They have tested negative to the Ebola virus disease (EVD); laboratory tests will be repeated to reconfirm their status, the health minister said.
He added that a female patient who was on admission in the same hospital where the late Port Harcourt doctor was admitted has been confirmed Ebola positive, bringing the number to three in the oil city.
She is presently under treatment in the isolation ward in Rivers State, the health minister said.
According to him: As of 31st August, 2014, the total number of cases of EVD in Nigeria stands at 16. The total number of cases treated at the isolation ward in Lagos State stands at 13. The total number of those discharged is seven. The total number of deaths among those treated in Lagos is five, and the total number currently under treatment in Lagos is two; and both patients are stable.
The three confirmed cases not treated in Lagos comprise: (1) a surviving primary contact of the index case (Patrick Sawyer), an ECOWAS Commission staff who became symptomatic, evaded surveillance in Lagos, travelled to Port Harcourt and infected his attending physician.
Presently, he does not have viraemia but other laboratory tests for antibodies confirm that he had suffered from EVD. He is under quarantine in Lagos at the moment undergoing further tests to ensure he is totally free from the virus.
(2) A private medical practitioner who was infected while treating the ECOWAS Commission staff; he died from EVD. It was his death that led to the investigation that revealed the introduction of EVD to Port Harcourt and the beginning of contact tracing of secondary and third degree contacts in Port Harcourt.
The health minister said arrangements were being made to decontaminate the body in readiness for proper disposal of his remains, adding that his death brings to six the total number of persons who have died from EVD in Nigeria.
Two other contacts of the late Port Harcourt doctor (one of the doctors who managed him and a pharmacy technician working in the late doctors hospital) are symptomatic and have been admitted in the isolation ward in Rivers State. They have tested negative to the EVD but the laboratory tests will be repeated to reconfirm their status.
He said that the number of contacts under surveillance in Lagos stands at 72, while in Port Harcourt the total number of contacts under surveillance stands at 199.
There is nobody under surveillance in Enugu presently and no case of EVD in Enugu State. As of 31st August, 2014, 278 contacts have completed the 21-day observation period and have been discharged from surveillance.
No contact in Port Harcourt has completed the 21-day observation period. It is expected that a few more contacts will develop the EVD especially in Rivers State before Nigeria will see the last case of EVD; it is encouraging that, so far, all confirmed cases of EVD in Nigeria have their roots in the index case, Mr Patrick Sawyer. Great vigilance is required particularly at our ports of entry to ensure we do not have cases of EVD from other sources other than Mr Sawyer, the minister added.
Chukwu stated: Our strategies for containing the EVD in Nigeria have remained the same, focusing on appropriate information, education and communication; sustaining our surveillance systems; provision and equipping of isolation centres, provision of adequate care for confirmed cases; active and aggressive contact tracing; and reduction in harmful practices that promote the spread of the virus.
Meanwhile, the federal government has concluded plans to conduct two major trainings in all the states. The states are however expected to replicate the trainings at the local governments with support from development partners.
According to Chukwu, the training is a train-the-trainer programme for health workers on Ebola outbreak and other viral haemorrhagic fevers. It also covers training for state health educators on awareness creation, community sensitization and mobilization. The training is also expected to embrace military and paramilitary personnel.
No Ebola case in Abuja
- Minister
Minister of health Prof Chukwu has debunked rumours of a reported Ebola case in Abuja involving a Liberian at the Nicon Luxury hotel in Abuja over the weekend.
Speaking to newsmen yesterday in Abuja, he said, We have investigated it since; there is nothing like that. The person is not a Liberian. The person is a Nigerian.
Furthermore, the minister explained that the person is a sickle-cell carrier working for a foreign agency who developed a crisis at the venue of the event.
The person is a sickler. Fourth: (the person) has crisis; it is not Ebola virus disease. As at this morning, there is no single case suspected or otherwise of Ebola virus disease in the Federal Capital Territory.
Controversy in Abuja as patient dies of suspected case
A patient suspected to have been infected with the deadly Ebola virus has died at the Asokoro Hospital, Abuja.
The suspected patient, who exhibited symptoms similar to those of persons infected with the virus, died at the hospital last Friday.
Following the death of the patient, the accident and emergency unit of the hospital where the patient was being treated has been cordoned off and the accident and emergency unit has been temporarily relocated to the general outpatient unit (GOPD). Similarly, a list of all medical staff who had come in contact with the patient has been compiled and they are all under surveillance.
According to a statement by the FCT Health and Human Services Secretariat, on Thursday August 28, 2014, when the symptoms were observed, blood samples of the patient were taken for examination at the designated FCT Ebola testing laboratory which happens to be within the hospital premises and the epidemiology unit of the Public Health Department of the secretariat was notified and the unit has responded.
The statement signed by the secretariats head of public relations, Badaru Yakassai, explained that the results of the Ebola test were being expected from the laboratory four days later (yesterday) before the patient died.
The Family Medicine unit of Asokoro District Hospital suspected Ebola disease in a patient on admission at the accident and emergency unit on the 28th of August, 2014, and immediately isolated the patient. Strict infection control measures were immediately instituted. Blood sample was then taken to the designated FCT Ebola-testing laboratory which happens to be within the hospital premises. The epidemiology unit of the Public Health Department of the Health and Human Services Secretariat was notified and their response was immediate. The results of the Ebola test was being expected from the laboratory four days later, on Monday the 1st of September 2014.
The case also served as a drill case to test the preparedness of the hospital to manage and contain the Ebola disease. Clinical assessment however did not reveal any history of contact or travel. However, in view of the high index of suspicion, isolation and strict infection control measures were continued and the unit was cordoned off. Unfortunately, the patient died the next day, Friday 29th August, 2014. The accident and emergency unit was temporarily relocated to the General Outpatient Unit (GOPD). A list of all medical staff who had come into contact with the patient has been compiled and they are all under surveillance, Yakassai explained in the statement.
The secretariat however advised residents of the territory not to panic as a case of Ebola has not been confirmed at the hospital, adding that the measures that have been put in place are only precautionary in the interest of public safety.
The late Dr Enemuos sister quarantined in Rivers
The Rivers State government has sent the younger sister to Dr Ikechukwu Samuel Enemuo, who died of EVD to the quarantine centre at Edoha community in Emohua local government area of the state, after she became symptomatic following her return from Abia State.
This is as two out of the three persons who were sent to the quarantine centre during the weekend have tested negative to EVD, while the third person, a lady who shared the same room with the late Enemuo while he was admitted at the Good Heart Hospital, Port Harcourt, tested positive to the virus.
Also, the remains of the late medical doctor, and other high-risk corpses at the morgue of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt, would be buried within the week in accordance with the protocol of the World Health Organization (WHO).
The Rivers State commissioner for health, Dr Sampson Parker, who addressed journalists in Port Harcourt yesterday, said the sister to the late medical doctor, Chinyere, complained of high fever upon her return from Abia State and was sent to the quarantine centre for further investigations.
Parker said, Last time we met, I told you about a lady, the sister of Dr Iyke Enemuo, who went off to Abia State. This is just to inform you that we got her back to Port Harcourt and she became symptomatic here in Port Harcourt. We have sent her to the quarantine centre. She came and complained about high fever; so we took her in. That does not mean that she already has Ebola.
He stated that although the doctor and pharmacist, who worked at Sam-Steel Clinic and Maternity with the late Enemuo, tested negative to the virus, they would still be under investigation until the expiration of the 21-day circle of the virus.
The commissioner for health said, I told you yesterday that we have three patients, and, out of the three patients, the result came out: two of them were negative, one was positive. The two negative ones have now left the centre; we have discharged them from the centre, but we will repeat the tests because they are still within the 21 days circle of the virus.
We pray that they remain negative. The one who is positive is an elderly woman that was in the same hospital with the late Dr Iyke Enemuo. In fact, they were in the same room two beds and she is there (quarantine centre) now, although there were other medical complications she had that took her to Dr Enemuos hospital. Those medical complications are private to her.
Parker disclosed that the decision to bury Enemuo and other high-risk corpses at the UPTH followed a meeting between the country director of WHO and the director of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), saying that the measures being taken was to ensure that relatives of the deceased are not put in danger.
He said, The country director of WHO is with us in the meeting with the director of the National Centre for Disease Control. We have decided that, within this week, Dr Iyke Enemuo and other high-risk corpses in the UPTH mortuary would be buried, according to WHO protocols. That means that the corpses will not leave Port Harcourt. So, any of those high-risk corpses that they want to send to Ahoada or Okomoko or any other place, we will not allow it.
They would be buried under supervision of the EOC, Ministry of Health officials, and officials of WHO, so that we dont expose the relatives to danger. You know we all have different cultures of burial ceremonies and we will not like to endanger the lives of other people. We will take care of all the safety protocols ourselves. The families will be there but we will not allow them touch the corpses. We will use all safety measures to do the burial.
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