RIVERS State government has classified 50 people as high risk contacts, saying they are currently placed under observation through its contact tracing committee.
Three out of the 50 contact, it said, have also been identified and quarantined as in-house patients at the Ebola isolation unit at Edoha, in Emohua Local Government Area of the state.
He said the three persons, a doctor and pharmacist, who work at Sam Steel Clinic, as well as a female patient that was treated at the clinic, had been taken to the quarantine centre at Edoha for closer examination and observation.
Noting that about 200 people had been identified, Parker said 60 people who had secondary contact with the late Dr Enemuo were yet to be located.
He appealed to them “to come out and report themselves to the Rivers State government’s medical team as quickly as possible.”
“Because of the stigma associated with the virus, most people are reluctant to present themselves to our medical team.
“Although, we have identified about 200 people, we are yet to be in touch with about 60 of them. But 50 high risk contacts have been identified.
“For now, we are concentrating on the names we have found while work is going on to locate new persons that may have had secondary contacts with Dr Enemuo. We are currently tracing them so that we can capture them,” he said.
The commissioner added that three persons who panicked and ran away to Abia, Imo and Akwa Ibom states had returned to Port Harcourt and had now been placed under surveillance.
He commended his counterparts from the states for cooperating with the Rivers State government in tracing and persuading the secondary contacts to come back to Rivers State for proper examination and observation.
The commissioner also said Governor Rotimi Amaechi would meet with all church leaders by 10.00 a.m today, adding that he would meet with traditional rulers tomorrow, to solicit their cooperation in the effort to contain the spread of the virus.
He appealed to pastors and other clerics to avoid placing their hands or hugging their church members while praying for them.
“We advised that instead of running to churches in search of cure, anyone who had primary or secondary contact with Dr Enemuo; or start developing symptoms of high fever, vomiting, or diarrhea should immediately contact us through the available contact lines,” he said.
The commissioner assured that the morgue at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) had been decontaminated, adding that “Sam Steel Clinic, Good Heart Hospital and the hotel where the diplomat, Olu Ibikunle Koye, lodged, have been deactivated and decontaminated and now ready for use. These places are now safe for use.”
He disclosed that Dr Enemuo died in a car while being rushed from Good Heart Clinic to another hospital in Port Harcourt, adding that the doctor that treated him, the driver and all those who attended to the late doctor were all under observation.
“Dr Enemuo’s wife is stable in Lagos,” the commissioner added.
…Muslim groups organise enlightenment campaign
Against the backdrop of the fear caused by the outbreak and spread of Ebola disease in West African sub-region and most especially in Nigeria, the Organisation of Tadhamunul Muslimeen (OTM) and the Muslim Congress (TMC) have organised an enlightenment lecture aimed at sensitising members of the public on how to manage and control the epidemic.
Speaking at the lecture held at the Trans Amusement Park, Bodija, Ibadan, on Sunday, with the theme: “Ebola: Facts and Figures,” one of the guest lecturers, Professor AbdulFatai Fehintola, Consultant, Clinical Pharmacologist, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, who stressed the threat posed by the outbreak of Ebola virus to humanity emphasised the need for all and sundry to direct their energy and resources towards prevention and treatment of the deadly disease.
While calling on the media practitioners not to relent in their efforts at enlightening members of the public on the spread and prevention of the disease, Professor Fehintola, who was represented on the occasion by Dr AbdulWaheed Adedeji, equally enjoined religious bodies and clerics to organise enlightenment programmes for their members to curb the spread of the virus.
He also called on both state and federal governments to set up isolation centres for those infected.
Also speaking, a lecturer at the Crescent University, Abeokuta, Dr Ismail Yunus, who spoke on “Ebola virus; Islamic point of view,” urged Nigerians to stay away from infected people, saying Prophet Mohammed (PBOH) enjoined that “we should avoid people suffering from contagious diseases.”
He, however, contended that Ebola infection might not necessary lead to divorce among couples, saying that the relationship could be restored after the infected partner must have undergone a period of quarantine.
Earlier in his address, the Deputy Director, Pharmaceutical Services, Oyo State, AbdulGaniyu Adedayo, who was the chairman on the occasion had called on Nigerians to imbibe the culture of cleaniness.
“We should always wash our hands before and after food as well as after visiting the toilet,” he said.
He, equally called for adequate equipment at health facilities, to enable them to cope with all health challenges as, according to him, many Nigerians could not afford foreign treatment.
While commending the government for being proactive in stemming the tide of Ebola virus, Adedayo, however, contended that more still needed to be done in the areas of proper monitoring of the nation’s porous land borders.
