Nigeria might have another case of Ebola to worry about following the forced closure of the accident and emergency ward of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital over a suspected case of Ebola disease.
The scare was occasioned by a patient’s death at about 2pm on Tuesday, October 6, after symptoms related to the deadly EVD manifested prior to his passing on.
READ ALSO: EBOLA: Not Over Until It Is Over
Sources reveal that the unidentified patient was brought in from Akpabuyo local government area of Cross River state, with high body temperature as well as vomiting, stooling and bleeding from the nose.
It was further disclosed that the patient died before any test could be carried out on him, causing the accident and emergency ward to be quarantined on suspicion that the virus might be the cause of death.
The Punch reports that the patient died of Haemorrhagic fever, however, the state Ebola emergency team was invited at about 6pm to investigate sample of the deceased.
Dr Queenet Kalu, the deputy chief medical director of UCTH, confirmed the scare but said the patient was suspected to have died of Haemorrhagic fever.
Kalu who is also the chairman of medical advisory committee, said though a patient was suspected to have died of Haemorrhagic fever, it development does not call for alarm.
She said everything was under control and that the public had no need to be scared of EVD which is yet to be ascertained.
Escape Health FacilityMeanwhile, the new cases of Ebola discovered by the Ministry of Health in Liberia and Sierra Leone has revealed that more needs to be done in combating diseases in Africa, especially within the western region.
In August, there were three new cases of Ebola reported in Liberia, barely two months after being declared Ebola free by the World Health Organization (WHO), a development which some say exposed major vulnerability of African countries to public health emergencies due to infectious diseases.
In the light of the this problem, Dr Pate Mohammad, former minister for state for health, said Nigeria should fully domesticate its capacity for public health disease surveillanceand response as a core public health function of Federal and all states ministries of health.
The scare was occasioned by a patient’s death at about 2pm on Tuesday, October 6, after symptoms related to the deadly EVD manifested prior to his passing on.
READ ALSO: EBOLA: Not Over Until It Is Over
Sources reveal that the unidentified patient was brought in from Akpabuyo local government area of Cross River state, with high body temperature as well as vomiting, stooling and bleeding from the nose.
It was further disclosed that the patient died before any test could be carried out on him, causing the accident and emergency ward to be quarantined on suspicion that the virus might be the cause of death.
The Punch reports that the patient died of Haemorrhagic fever, however, the state Ebola emergency team was invited at about 6pm to investigate sample of the deceased.
Dr Queenet Kalu, the deputy chief medical director of UCTH, confirmed the scare but said the patient was suspected to have died of Haemorrhagic fever.
Kalu who is also the chairman of medical advisory committee, said though a patient was suspected to have died of Haemorrhagic fever, it development does not call for alarm.
She said everything was under control and that the public had no need to be scared of EVD which is yet to be ascertained.
Escape Health FacilityMeanwhile, the new cases of Ebola discovered by the Ministry of Health in Liberia and Sierra Leone has revealed that more needs to be done in combating diseases in Africa, especially within the western region.
In August, there were three new cases of Ebola reported in Liberia, barely two months after being declared Ebola free by the World Health Organization (WHO), a development which some say exposed major vulnerability of African countries to public health emergencies due to infectious diseases.
In the light of the this problem, Dr Pate Mohammad, former minister for state for health, said Nigeria should fully domesticate its capacity for public health disease surveillanceand response as a core public health function of Federal and all states ministries of health.
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