Nigeria confirms first case of the deadly Ebola virus

The Nigerian Government has confirmed a possible case of Ebola Virus, which is been currently investigated while treatment is on for the 40 year old Liberian, who is now a suspect, and a possible 30 others who may have had contact.

Officials of the government in a briefing noted that the 40 year old Liberian is in a private hospital in the Obalende area of the State.



The officials also noted that the hospital housing the Liberian has been cordoned off and the victim isolated.

The Lagos State government had earlier in July laid out some precautionary measures to stop the outbreak of the disease, that has ravaged neighbouring west African countries, in the state.

The Lagos  State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, had in a statement, said the measures became necessary with a view to preventing the outbreak of the disease in the State

He listed measures that will help in stopping the outbreak to include; washing of hands often with soap and water, avoiding close contact with people who are sick and ensuring that objects used by the sick are decontaminated and properly disposed.

He advised health workers to be at alert and ensure they always wear personal protective equipment as well as observe universal basic precautions when attending to suspected or confirmed cases, and report same to their Local Government Area or Ministry of Health immediately.

Meanwhile the Federal Government and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) had commenced the training of health workers to prevent the deadly Ebola virus from spreading into the country.

The training, which was held in Ibadan in April 2014, had laboratory scientists and epidemiologists from the South-West zone of the country in attendance for two weeks.

Head of the team, Dr. John Oladejo, told journalists that those involved received training on mode of transmission, prevention and control measure against the deadly virus.

He warned that the disease is difficult and expensive to manage.

Ebola has killed 632 people across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since an outbreak began in February.