The fear of Ebola is the beginning of wisdom, as the fear of the spread of Ebola continues in Nigeria, both the Federal and state govt are doing all they can to avoid any case 0f Ebola in the country.
The Lagos State Government and some federal delegates on Sunday paid a visit to the General Overseer of the Synagogue Church of All Nations, Prophet Temitope Joshua.
According to the Lagos State Commissioner for Health who led the delegation, Dr. Jide Idris, the visit was also to make sure that no victim of the virus came into the church from any of the affected countries.
According to the Lagos State Commissioner for Health who led the delegation, Dr. Jide Idris, the visit was also to make sure that no victim of the virus came into the church from any of the affected countries.
“We have our strategies that we intend to share with you. Again, we need to know the resources you have here because whether it is one or two cases, if they are allowed to get out, it is a major problem. We are here to work together on how to contain this disease.”
The delegation decided to pay the visit to the SCOAN because of the recognition that it was an international Christian centre whose congregation comprised people from all over the world, including the countries of the West African sub-Region which had already been infected by the Ebola disease.
The Director, Centre for Disease Control, Professor Abdulsalami Nasidi, added that the visit was also to inform the Synagogue leader of the deadliness of the Ebola Virus, and ensure that it did not escape into the country.
The general overseer of the Synagogue church, Prof T.B Joshua pledged his support and also promised to suspend some of his major Church healing programmes for a few weeks adding, “I am ready to work with you. I love my country and I will be ready to work with you. Even if it is a rumour, there is need to secure our environment to ensure that it is safe.”
For the first time in a long while, we see our government swinging into action, instead of mere talks.
It was speculated that the infected Liberian man mr sawyer who came into the country with ebola was heading to the Synagogue church for healing, but collapsed on arrival and was rushed to be hospitalized.
What’s your take?
Kolanut has been found to halt the deadly Ebola virus in its tracks
in laboratory tests. Scientists used a compound from Garcinia kola, a
plant commonly eaten in West Africa.
Compounds from the plant have
also proved effective against some strains of flu.
If the anti-Ebola
compound proves successful in animal and human trials, it will be the
first medicine to successfully treat the virus that causes Ebola
hemorrhagic fever – an often-fatal condition.
The discovery was announced at the 16th International Botanical
Congress in St Louis in the US.
The Ebola virus was first documented in 1976 after an outbreak in
Zaire – now the Democratic Republic of the Congo – where 88 per cent
of the 318 human cases died.
More recently, a 1995 outbreak in the same country had a death rate of
81% of the 315 infected.
There are four types of the virus – Ebola-Zaire, Ebola-Sudan and
Ebola-Ivory Coast all affect humans, while Ebola-Reston has so far
only affected monkeys and chimpanzees.
However, doctors have been unable to stop the virus once infection has
taken hold – hence the disease has gained a terrifying reputation.
Traditional origins
Dr. Maurice Iwu, who set up and heads the Bio-resources Development and
Conservation Programme, led the research.
It started 10 years ago when researchers were led to the plant by
traditional native healers who have used the plant for the treatment
of infectious diseases for centuries.
"This is a very exciting discovery," said Dr. Iwu, who himself comes
originally from a family of traditional healers.
"The same forest that yields the dreaded Ebola virus could be a source
of the cure."
The virus multiplies rapidly in the human body and quickly overwhelms
it, and in advanced cases the patient develops high fever and severe
bleeding.
The Garcinia kola compound has been shown to halt multiplication of
the virus in the laboratory.
If repeated in humans, this would give
the body a chance to fight off the virus.
The active compound is what is known as a dimeric flavonoid, which is
two flavonoid molecules fused together.
Flavonoids are non-toxic and can be found in orange and lemon rinds as
well as the colourings of other plants.
Drugs Availability
The tests are in the early stages still, but the researchers hope that
if they continue to prove successful with the compound, the US Food and Drug
Administration will put it on a fast track – making a drug available
to humans within a matter of years.
"The discovery of these important properties in a simple compound – flavonoids – was very surprising," said Dr. Iwu.
"The structure of this compound lends itself to modification, so it
provides a template for future work.
"Even if this particular drug does not succeed through the whole drug
approval process, we can use it to construct a new drug for this
deadly disease."
Doctor Who Treated Liberian Man Contacted the Virus
A Lagos doctor who treated the Liberian man that died few days ago of Ebola Virus has tested positive to the Virus, Nigeria’s Minister of Health said on Monday.
The minister broke the news on Monday during the inauguration of a treatment research group for Ebola in Nigeria .
According to the Minister, 70 people are now placed under surveillance while eight people would be quarantined on Monday for developing symptoms of the disease.
Apart from taking those steps, the government has also set up a treatment research group, that will carry out treatment research, receive and verify treatment claims as well as advise government on issues relating to Ebola virus in Nigeria.
The group which is co-chaired by Professor Shingu Gamaliel and Professor Innocent Ujah also has Maurice Iwu, a Professor of Pharmacognosy and officials from the Centre for Disease Control as members.
The minister advised the public to be wary of treatment claims including the use of bitter-cola as most treatment findings are still in their laboratory stages.
There is currently no known cure for Ebola virus in the world, but medical experts say efforts are on to find a remedy to the disease that has claimed over seven hundred since its out-break this year.
