Ebola: medical expert cautions Nigerians

To check the spread of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), a medical practitioner, Dr Kayode Oyebode, on Friday urged  Nigerians to exercise caution in handling blood or fluids of animals. Oyebode made the call on Friday in Osogbo while speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
NAN reports that the Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, had  assured  Nigerians of government’s determination to contain the spread of the Ebola virus after an infected top Liberian government  official died in a Lagos hospital. The disease can be contracted  when a person comes in contact with blood or blood fluids of infected animals,  especially monkeys  or fruit bats. Fruit bats are believed to carry the deadly virus... without being affected by it and once infected by someone, the EVD may spread from one person to another,’’ Oyebode said. Early symptoms of the disease, he said, include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and decreased functioning of the liver and kidneys. At this point, the person infected would begin to bleed and that calls for immediate total separation from the public while  those in contact with the person would also be isolated.’’ Oyebode said.