EBOLA UPDATE: Dr. Adadevoh dies

Female medical doctor at First Consultant Hospital, Lagos, Dr Stella Adedavoh, has died from the Ebola virus disease.

Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, confirmed this to newsmen last night.

The doctor was the one who attended to Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian-American who brought the virus to Nigeria.

Dr Adedavoh had been in coma for nearly a week as a result of the virus.

The woman was said to be a great grand-daughter of Herbert Macaulay and the lead consultant at the First Consultant Hospital, Lagos.

As of the time of filing this report, the Ministry of Health, both at the federal and Lagos State levels, were yet to release official comment on the incident.

Meanwhile, before her eventual demise, there was a mass campaign on the internet, via change.org, calling on the United States (US) government to release the experimental drug, Zmapp, to save her life.

The petition, as of Tuesday, had been signed by 3,000 people.

FG begins hand washing campaign

In its effort to contain the spread of Ebola Virus disease in the country, the Federal Government, on Monday, commenced the national emergency hand washing campaign.

The campaign, implemented by the Ministry of Water Resources, in partnership with the National Task Group on Sanitation and the WASH Sector Emergency Response Working Group, was launched to ensure personal hygiene among the public and stop the spread of the virus.

Minister of Water Resources, Mrs Sarah Ochekpe, speaking at the campaign held at the popular Jabi Motor Park, Wuse Market and the Federal Secretariat in Abuja, underscored the need for the public to imbibe the hand washing culture in their day-to-day activities, as this would also help promote personal hygiene.

According to her, the disease, if not adequately contained, could wipe out a whole community.
She noted that the hand washing  initiative would save the country from more trouble.

Ochekpe disclosed that the campaign would also be taken to the six geopolitical zones in the country, adding that this was due to the knowledge that most of the diseases recorded in the country were water related.

The minister, who publicly demonstrated the practical hand washing process, pledged to dig a borehole at the Jabi Motor Park to ensure water availability and hygiene.

In their remarks, chairman of the motor park, Mr Olugbade Olagunju and the Managing Director, Wuse Market, Alhaji Abubakar Usman Faruk, commended the Federal Government for bringing the campaign to their domains.

Cameroon closes borders

CAMEROON has closed all its borders with Nigeria, in a bid to halt the spread of the Ebola virus, state radio said on Tuesday.

“The government has taken the decision to protect its population, because it is much better to prevent than cure the Ebola virus,” Minister of Communications and government’s spokesman, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, told Reuters, on Tuesday.

Source: The Nigerian Tribune