11th August, 2014
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State says all the eight people currently infected by the deadly Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) are in stable conditions and responding to treatment.
Fashola disclosed this on Monday at a meeting with traditional rulers and religious leaders at the State House, Ikeja, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria, saying five of the victims specifically had greatly improved.
“The idea of cure is not there. The idea of bitter kola is unverified. Bathing with salt is also unverified. As at today, we have recorded two dead cases — the Liberian and the nurse. We now have 10 persons in isolation that are receiving treating. Eight of them have been confirmed positive to Ebola Virus Disease.
“We are still waiting for the result of the remaining two persons. All of them are stable, which means that they are not deteriorating. Five of them have really improved. This means they are fighting back. It confirms that Ebola is not automatic death sentence if we do the right thing at the right time. We should talk to our people,” he told the traditional rulers and religious leaders.
According to Fashola, the EVD is not something to be ashamed of, saying “this is a disease, and it is a disease we can fully recover from if the right thing is done. High temperature is the first sign of the disease. It is not every person that has high temperature that is infected with the virus. High temperature can be as a result of malaria or typhoid fever.
“If we have nine persons and one escape, we are still at risk until we find the tenth one. So, there is no 99 percent in the case of Ebola. Everyone who has contact with the virus must be contained and checked. Some may be slightly ill. Some may be moderately ill. Some may be seriously ill. We have to deal with them according their state of health.”
Fashola said dealing with them might take “two weeks. It may take four weeks. It may take two months. It may take eight months. If we can find all the contacts, we are in control. Now, it is now a question of treatment and survival of those who we have isolated. If you look at what we have now, only one case has resulted in the infection of ten persons.”
The governor explained that if “the ten contacts multiply by ten, we are going have 100 cases. If 100 contacts multiply by ten, we have going to have 1,000 cases. If 1,000 contacts multiply by ten, we will have 10,000. That is how it will keep multiplying.”