Nigeria can eradicate ebola by September- NCDC

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has said that
Nigeria can eradicate the deadly Ebola epidemic from the
country by September if it sustains its current efforts at
tackling the disease.
This was disclosed by the project director of the centre,
Prof. Abdulsalami Nasidi, during his presentation at a
workshop organised by the National Biotechnology
Development Agency (NABDA) on Molecular Diagnosis and
Treatment for Hemorrhagic and Zoonotic Viral Diseases,
yesterday in Abuja.
He said, "Let me say here that if the current efforts at
tackling the disease are sustained, we should be able to
defeat Ebola on or before September 6, 2014. But, that is not
say the threat of reappearance will no longer be there."
Prof. Nasidi, who said Ebola was already on its way out of
the nation, urged Nigerians to stop panicking over disease,
saying it was not as deadly as it is being painted, adding
that the virus is not easily contactable until the living host
becomes visibly sick.
He commended President Goodluck Jonathan, Governor
Babatunde Fashola and Minister of Health, Prof Onyebuchi
Chukwu, for the support given to health workers to confront
the virus.
"The president should be commended because he came
back from a trip when the virus landed in the nation and
swiftly went into action by championing the cause of
containing the disease, and made funds available to that
effect. The minister and governor are excellent people; their
performance was excellent because they acted swiftly and
decisively to bring the situation under control," he said.
He further condemned the call by some embassies for
intending travellers to present an Ebola-free certificate,
describing it as unnecessary.
According to him, "You only need to screen (the blood of)
those who have come in contact with an infected person,
not everybody. Asking everybody to screen their blood for
Ebola is out of WHO's recommendation."
The federal government, he added, was already taking it up
with embassies that now put this as one of the requirements
for visa processing.
But NABDA DG Prof Lucy Agabadu said "the agency can
now quickly detect Ebola before it blow to a full disease
because we now do a molecular laboratory diagnosis of any
sample."
She said researchers from the agency "made the
breakthrough in collaboration with scientists from South
Korea."
Earlier, the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Abdu
Bulama, urged experts at the workshop to explore treatment
options for Ebola.
He said his ministry would continue to collaborate with
ministry of health in finding lasting solution to the Ebola
scourge.