Even as the federal government battles extensively to wipe out the Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, there is fresh hope by the way of a vaccine being processed at the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development, NIPRD, writes health correspondent, NGOZI NWANKWO
It is indeed worth celebrating the way the Nigerian government was able to contain the Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, within a short period.
This has actually won the country international recognition in terms of Ebola containment and it has shown the level of government’s commitment to issues of national importance such as Ebola.
It would be recalled that since a 40-year-old Liberian man, late Mr. Patrick Sawyer, who died of EVD in Lagos after he flew into the country from Monrovia on July 20, the disease has killed some Nigerians while others were successfully managed and discharged.
Against the development, the federal government through the federal Ministry of Health has not relented in its effort to contain the disease.
During this period, the federal government drafted a committee to look into the problem, with President Goodluck Jonathan declaring a national emergency on the disease, following the recommendations of the World Health Organisation, WHO, and approving a-N1.9 billion special intervention fund to tackle the growing challenges emanating from the outbreak.
In one of the recent engagements with the media, the Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, told Nigerians that so far the country had recorded 18 cases of Ebola Virus Disease, EVD since Patrick Sawyer imported the disease into the country.
Chukwu said that the confirmed 18th case was the sister of the late Port Harcourt doctor, who died after treating an ECOWAS staff, who had primary contact with the index case. He also disclosed that the country had successfully managed and discharged eight patients so far.
“Total number of confirmed cases of Ebola Virus Disease in Nigeria is now 18. The 18th confirmed case is the sister of the late Port Harcourt doctor. Total number of cases successfully managed and discharged is now eight. The last case to be discharged, the first secondary contact to be diagnosed and a spouse of a primary contact of the index case, went home from the isolation ward in Lagos yesterday. (The ninth survivor is the ECOWAS Commission official who jumped surveillance in Lagos and travelled to Port Harcourt where he infected the doctor who attended to him).”
The total number of deaths from Ebola Virus Disease in Nigeria, according to the minister was seven.
One, the index case, occurred in a private hospital in Lagos. Also four in the Lagos isolation ward and one in the Port Harcourt isolation ward (the female patient who was on admission in the same hospital where the late Port Harcourt doctor was also admitted). While another case was the doctor who was infected by the ECOWAS Commission official in Port Harcourt and who did not come under the care and management of the Incident Management Committee.
It is noteworthy that despite being exposed to the Ebola victims through primary or secondary persons and flouting the advice of health workers, by leaving quarantine, the disease did not spread in more than two state of the country, which is Lagos and Port Harcourt.
Prof. Chukwu debunked rumors of EVD cases outside Lagos and Port Harcourt. These include the three reported cases in the Federal Capital Territory and one case in Calabar. He further debunked the story that the body of the late Port Harcourt doctor was transported to Edo or Delta State.
Professor Chukwu said that though this was a modest achievement, it is worth celebrating for several reasons. To date there is no known case in any other part of the country, though all state governments are taking measures to deal with any eventual Ebola outbreak in their territories.
Thus, the disease affected only two of the 36 states of the federation. Again, though every single life is important, it is significant that only eight Nigerians died of the disease, all of them are those who were exposed to the index case. This is an infinitesimal percentage of the Lagos and Port Harcourt populations, much less than of Nigeria as a whole. Compare this figure to those Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea where the mortality rate is in hundreds and work out the percentage or ratio in relation to their relatively smaller population than Nigeria.
Again, eight Nigerians were successfully treated and discharged and this was without use of any foreign drug. Indeed, Nigerian experts are making efforts to produce a vaccine for Ebola Virus Disease.
More significant perhaps, is that the fight against the disease was successfully tackled at a time when the Nigeria Medical Association, NMA was on strike. So the medical personnel that worked on Ebola patients had to put in extra effort and were committed to the cause.
Of course when the death toll sent signal to Nigerians that all was not well, the Minister restored hope when he announced that there would be experimental drugs for the Ebola victims invented in Nigeria by Nigerian scientists.
“One good thing is that there will be new treatment drugs for the Ebola. A Nigerian scientist has offered to invent experimental treatment drugs, Nanosilver for the victims. This drug can only be donated by a Nigerian for now,” said Chukwu. Nevertheless, there were concerns over the said Nanosilver as it did not pass the world medical requirement for the virus.
Recently, Nigerian government announced that EVD would no longer be a threat to the country, in a few days. It equally announced that the country is free from the deadly disease, urging students to return to school and encouraged preventive measures in the schools and all social gatherings.
However, the question is, is there still hope for Nigeria to come up with an authentic vaccine for this disease in case of another eventuality?
It would be recalled that since the importation of the disease, there have been recommended drugs such as Zmapp, Nanosilver and even bitter kola but the use of these as a remedy for the virus was deterred for one reason or the other. In the case of Zmapp, the drug was inaccessible because it is still in trial stages. That of Nanosiliver was discouraged by WHO.
In the case of bitter kola, Prof. Chukwu said there was no scientific evidence that the use of bitter kola would either prevent or cure Ebola Virus Disease.
“Let me just say it that there is no medical evidence that when you eat bitter kola that it will help to prevent Ebola virus disease or when you have it, it will cure it.
“ … in the management of Ebola virus disease we do not neglect the issue of research related to the virus, as we know no progress will ever be made without research and therefore the federal government through the federal Ministry of Health is keen to encourage research into Ebola virus disease,” he added.
It was also recalled that Chukwu set up the Treatment Research Group for EVD on August 4, this year with an overall mandate to provide guidance to government on the use and research into use of candidate drugs, vaccines and other biological for the treatment and management of EVD.
This includes screening and verification of claims for actual products or knowledge on the processes for development of the actual products that may be used for these purposes.
He also called for submission of claims for drugs, vaccines, herbal medicines and other biological for the treatment or preventive on of EVD.
Interestingly, checks by this paper revealed that the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and development, NIPRD, which is part of the TRG committee has commenced research into an Ebola drug.
Speaking to this paper, the Director General, Professor Karynius Shingu Gamaniel, through the Special Assistant, Mr. Jegede I Adeola, maintained that only Minister of Health is authorised to update on issue of Ebola.
He however called on Nigerians to have hope for the vaccine as many researches and necessary strategies are being put in place and when it is the right time, the minister will announce the committee’s findings.