EBOLA: 18 months old baby quarantined has tested negative

An 18-month-old baby, who was quarantined after being suspected to have contracted the dreaded Ebola virus disease, has tested negative.

The Rivers State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Sampson Parker, who revealed this while briefing journalists in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, explained that a second test would be carried out on the child on Thursday (today).

Parker also disclosed that the late Doctor Iyke Enemuo’s wife currently receiving treatment at the National Treatment Centre in Lagos, was recovering fast and would soon be discharged.

It will be recalled that Enemuo had died of the Ebola virus after treating a diplomat in a hotel located in Port Harcourt.

The commissioner pointed out that the state government had so far covered 510 primary and secondary contacts in its effort to contain the Ebola virus.

He said, “I am pleased to inform you that Dr. Iyke Samuel Enemuo’s wife, who is currently receiving treatment at the National Treatment Centre in Lagos, is doing well and will soon be discharged.”

Parker observed that there was currently no patient that had tested positive to the Ebola virus at the quarantine and treatment centre in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State.

He said, “In Rivers State, we don’t have any positive case of Ebola virus disease, but we have about 510 contacts now; most of them are cooperating with us. The number of contacts is not the issue, but to say that we are in control.”

Parker, however, pleaded with the international community to come to the rescue of Liberia and Serra Leone in their efforts to contain the Ebola virus.

“We can commend the Nigerian government for the success it has achieved in combating Ebola. We can also commend Rivers State for its efforts in containing the spread of Ebola, but we cannot go and sleep when Liberia and Sierra Leone are still battling with the spread of the disease.

“The international community and other West African states should do more. If we think we have successfully contained the spread of Ebola in our countries and then shut our eyes to what is currently happening in Liberia and Sierra Leone, we will not also be helping ourselves because citizens of these countries may find their way into our country no matter how well we claim to have policed our borders.

Source: Punch