21st August, 2014
Ayorinde Oluokun
Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, Nigeria’s Health Minister said on Thursday that few cases of the Ebola Virus Disease could still come up among the 189 secondary contacts currently being observed for having physical contacts with the initial 11 people who were infected by the late Liberian American, Patrick Sawyer.
Dan Nwomeh, Special Assistant on Media and Communication to the minister said in a statement that Chukwu said this while declaring open, the Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons in Abuja.
“With a good number of secondary contacts yet to complete the 21-day incubation period, the possibility of two or three more cases could not be entirely ruled out.”
The minister who commended the health workers involved in the managements patients of the EVD for their courage, compassion and sacrifice observed that nine of the 12 confirmed cases were either medical doctors or nurses.
Chikwu singled out the most senior physician that treated the late Sawyer, the late Dr. Ameyo Adedavoh for commendation.
The minister commended the late Adedavoh for her exceptional bravery, saying she paid with her life to ensure that many other Nigerians were not contaminated by the virus.
“Dr. Adedavoh took the brunt of physically blocking the patient from running away from the First Consultants Hospital, which would have not only infected more people, but also make contact tracing difficult. I am confident that she will be honoured by Nigeria at the appropriate time”
Chukwu also said that the total number of confirmed cases still stood at 12, with five dead, five successfully managed and discharged, while the remaining two were currently undergoing treatment at the isolation ward in Lagos.