The Ebola outbreak in Nigeria’s oil city, Port Harcourt, could spread wider and faster than in the financial capital, Lagos, the World Health Organisation has warned, even as the United States of America denied allegations that it declined to assist in controlling spread of the deadly virus in the country.
Warning of dire consequences emanating from arrival of the Ebola Virus Disease, EVD in Port Harcourt, the global health body said the arrival of Ebola showed “multiple high-risk opportunities for transmission of the virus to others”.
Of the 255 people currently under surveillance for signs of the disease, the WHO said 60 were considered to have had “high-risk or very high-risk exposure.”
It lamented that until the Port Harcourt case was announced, the Federal Government had indicated that the virus was contained in Lagos.
Further, the WHO said the series of events from the trip by the ECOWAS official to the oil city was worsened by the infection of Dr Ike Enemuo who was taken to hospital on August 13 after his symptoms worsened but before that had “numerous contacts with the community”, including visits from family and friends to celebrate a birth.
“In hospital, members of his church visited “to perform a healing ritual said to involve the laying on of hands”, while “the majority” of staff treated him before his death, the WHO said.
“Given these multiple high-risk exposure opportunities, the outbreak of Ebola virus disease in Port Harcourt has the potential to grow larger and spread faster than the one in Lagos,” it added.
Source: Vanguard
