Ebola Outbreak: Lagos State Issue Warning, Gives Precautionary Measures

If you are a residence of Lagos State then you would need to read this.

The Lagos State Governmnet has issued a warning with regards to the increasing cases of deaths resulting from the outbreak of Ebola virus in some neighbouring West African Countries. On Sunday the State gave some precautionary measures meant to prevent any possible outbreak of the deadly virus in the state.

Health Workers were warned to be alert. To always wear personal protective gloves and equipment as well as observe universal basic precautions when attending to suspected or confirmed cases.

They were also to report any suspected cases to the Local Government Area or Ministry or Health IMMEDIATELY.

Commissioner for Health for Lagos State, Dr. Jide Idris in a statement said the measures became necessary with a view to preventing the outbreak of the disease in the state, the measures he listed includes:

Washing of hands often with soap and water. ( This is one of the first things I do whenever I return home)

Avoid close contact with people who are sick ( I would add, people who you don’t know who are sick)

Ensure that objects and materials used by the sick are decontaminated and properly disposed.

The commissioner explained that outbreaks of Ebola has primarily been in villages of the Central and West African States.

The virus can be spread through:

Close contact with the blood, body fluids, organ and tissues of infected animals.

Direct contact with blood, organ or body secretions of an infected person.

The virus could also be transmitted via contact with animals like Monkey and Chimpanzee though this is yet to be confirmed, but it is wise to err in the side of caution.

Those with the highest risk of being infected includes:

Health workers and their families

Friends of an infected person and of course members of their own families and those holding and caring for them.

Early symptoms of disease include fever, headache, chills, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, sore throat, backache, and joint pains. 

Later symptoms include bleeding from the eyes, ears and nose, bleeding from the mouth and rectum, eye swelling, swelling of the genitals and rashes all over the body that often contain blood. It could progress to coma, shock and death.

Idris noted that presently, there was no specific treatment for Ebola disease, stressing that infected persons would need to be admitted into the hospital for specialised care and treated in isolation.

Ebola virus is currently ravaging many communities in some West African countries like Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone among others.

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Please be safe and take extra precautions when travelling to any of these countries. Stay Alive