FIGHTING THE DEADLY EBOLA VIRUS

These guidelines are in accordance with information from the Centre for Disease Control & World Health Organisation (WHO).

v The suspected reservoirs for or carriers of Ebola virus are baths.

v Transmission of Ebola virus to human is thought to originate from bat or primates that have become infected by bats.

v Human to human transmission of Ebola is possible through physical contact (i.e. handshakes, hugs, etc.) with a person who is actually ill from the Ebola virus on their body fluids such as sweat, saliva, urine, etc.

v Transmission among human is almost exclusively among care givers, family members or health care workers tending to the very ill.

v The virus is easily killed by contact with soap, sunlight, bleach or drying. A washing machine will definitely kill the virus in clothing saturated with the infected body fluid.

v A person can incubate the virus without symptoms for 2-21days, the average being 5- 8days before becoming ill; carriers of Ebola virus ARE NOT CONTAGIOUS UNTIL THEY ARE ACTUALLY ILL.

v Only when ill does the virus load express itself first in the blood and then in other bodily fluid (to include vomit, faeces, urine, breast milk, semen & sweat).

v If you are walking around you are not infectious to others.

           There are documented cases from Kilwit, DRC of an Ebola outbreak in a village that            had the custom of children never touching an ill adult. Children living for days in a              small one room hut with parents who died from Ebola did not become infected.

v You cannot contract Ebola virus by handling money, buying local bread or swimming in a pool.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Ebola epidemic currently in west Africa could spread to other countries if not properly controlled.

The WHO raised the death toll from 57 to 729 last week, announcing that 122 new cases have been detected between Thursday and Sunday last week, bringing the total to more than 1,300 since the epidemic began early this year.

It would be recalled that one case of the deadly Ebola virus was detected in Nigeria last week via a Liberian businessman, Patrick Sawyer when he arrived Lagos International Airport already ill from the virus.

Patrick Sawyer was later declared dead by the Lagos State Health Authorities. At the time of writing this report, 11 cases of Ebola has been confirmed in Nigeria. Out of the 11 cases, 3 have been confirmed dead, including Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian who is believed to have carried the virus into Nigeria.