A South African, suspected of showing symptoms of Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, as she arrived Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, Thursday, has been quarantined at the isolation ward in Lagos.
The female passenger, Folswe Elizabeth Maria, on board Royal Air Maroc, from Morocco was on transit and was said to have taken ill at the transit area of the airport after using the toilet.
The case was immediately reported to officials of the Port Health Services who used the Infra-red Thermometre to test her and discovered that she had high temperature. The passenger was later taken to an isolation centre and kept under observation by Port Health officials.
It was further gathered that the woman had worked previously in two Ebola Virus Disease-prone countries of Guinea and Sierra Leone, thus fuelling suspicion that she could have contracted the disease.
“The passenger, who is from South Africa, came aboard Royal Air Maroc. She followed normal processes even at the Nigeria Immigration Service. She is a transit passenger and she was at the transit lounge where she went to drink and thereafter felt uneasy; went to the toilet and on coming back, she fell ill.
“The case was reported to the Port Health Service officials who immediately examined her,” said the source.
A statement signed by the Special Assistant on Media and Communications to the Minister of Health, Dan Nwomeh said that “The South African national suspected of showing symptoms of Ebola at the international airport (Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos) was quarantined at the isolation ward in Lagos while her case is being investigated”.
Meanwhile, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has warned Nigerians not to fall prey to fake test kits for Ebola disease. Director-General of NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii, who raised alarm over circulation of the fake test kits and sanitizers in the market, cautioned Nigerians to be careful.
Orhii gave the warning while briefing the media on his return, yesterday, from an emergency meeting summoned by World Health Organisation, WHO, for health authorities of member nations in Geneva to find lasting solution to Ebola virus and some vaccines clinically being evaluated with very high prospect of combating the disease.
He said that “Nigerians must be vigilant because some unscrupulous elements have started exploiting the Ebola virus scare to market counterfeit test kits and sanitary products.”
Orhii, however, expressed optimism that there was a great promise that some drugs and vaccines could be found soon to contain the virus.
“We have some Nigerian remedies that we are looking at very closely and after investigation, we hope that they will be able to help check the Ebola virus. So Nigerians do not need to panic,” he said.
He reiterated that Ebola virus was not a death sentence in Nigeria as, according to him, the Federal Government, through the efforts of the Federal Ministry of Health, had managed the situation effectively and halted the rampaging spread of the disease.
“Nigerians are full of commendation and appreciation to President Goodluck Jonathan and the Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, for effectively containing the Ebola virus through prompt deployment of adequate funds, material resources and personnel to strategic places,” he said.
The NAFDAC boss further noted that Nigerians were proud of the current efforts of government, saying many countries were learning from the methods and strategies adopted by Nigeria to combat the Ebola menace.
He, therefore, appealed to Nigerians in Diaspora to feel free to visit home as the threat of the deadly disease had been effectively contained by the government.
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