A nurse, who had previously had contact with the Liberian Ebola patient Patrick Sawyer, fled quarantine in Lagos, and returned to her home in Enugu. This risky decision, and her resulting contact with 20 other people, have put the government on high alert.
To check possible outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease in Enugu State, the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, on Wednesday disclosed that 20 persons she was in contant with are currently under quarantine in Enugu. He said:
“All those who had primary contact have been quarantined. Secondary contacts have also been traced. So far the number of people that have been traced is 198. Out of this number, 177 are in Lagos and are being traced. Some are in quarantine, some are being monitored by health specialists.”
“21 persons in Enugu are also being watched. This is because one of the nurses that was involved with the treatment of the index case, unfortunately, disobeyed medical instructions and somehow travelled to Enugu.”
“All those who she was in contact with including her husband are under quarantine. The medical team had been able to trace all those who made contact with her.”
He urged members of the public to discountenance rumours and unverified reports over the Ebola epidemic, saying the government will prosecute anybody spreading rumors that damage public health. He said:
“Health workers are now in all our border units. All the entry points into this country and exit points, we have port health workers that are working in our airports and seaports.”
From Charles Novia's Facebook post.
The Federal Govt today announced that one of the Nurses who attended to the late Liberian medical terrorist, escaped quarantine and ran to Enugu State where she came in contact with 20 people who have all been quarantined by the Health Authorities with the Nurse.
Knowing how information from Government Sources is carefully released so as not to cause panic, I think this Nurse must have infected more than a 100 people. It is unofficially reported by Ken McPhail on his facebook page today that she attended a WEDDING CEREMONY in Enugu and came in contact with many people.
So, you guys at Enugu look out for Ebola signs. The fear now is this; 1. The Nurse travelled to Enugu by what means? Plane or Road Transport? What about her fellow passengers in the bus with her if she travelled by public transport? 2. Those people she mingled with at the party, how many of them came from other neighbouring states and have spread the virus to many others upon their return?
The situation is ever scary. With Nigeria's massive population, the Ebola pandemic might be more lethal in numbers in Nigeria than other African countries.
And that Liberian guy who imported that disease out of either desperation or evil intentions is not the only malicious person in our midst.
Knowing how vengeful some of our citizens are, many who will contract this virus will go on a revenge spread so as not to die alone. People are already angry with the system and spreading Ebola might be one last payback for such people at the shitty system.
May God keep us all safe.