Daily Independent Nigerian labs can’t detect Ebola By Onche Odeh News Editor It is official. No laboratory in Nigeria can effectively diagnose the Ebola virus because there is none that has the requisite infrastructure to culture and manipulate the deadly virus that has been responsible for the death of hundreds of people in countries across West Africa within the last one month. That means samples from any patient suspected to be carrying the disease may have to be taken to the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) laboratories in Atlanta, United States of America (USA), or to laboratories in Dakar, Senegal for confirmation. This disclosure came even as renowned virologist and President, Nigerian Academy of Science (NAS), Professor Oyewale Tomori, in an interview with Sunday Independent stated that “antibodies that were similar to that of Ebola virus were discovered in a sera (body fluid) samples of a patient in Nigeria in 1988.” A confirmation of Nigeria’s inability to handle the diagnosis of the Ebola virus in humans came from the Registrar of the Medical Laboratory Council of Nigeria (MLCN), Professor Anthony Emeribe, in an interview with Sunday IndependentS Speaking at the weekend, Emeribe said, “Agreed, Nigeria has the capacity (personnel and space) that can detect Ebola virus. There is, however, no laboratory in Nigeria that has the safety levels needed for the diagnosis of the virus.” According to the MLCN Registrar, the most advanced laboratories in Nigeria that can handle similar cases have a maximum Level 3 Biosafety level as against Level 4, which is the basic for Ebola Virus culturing and manipulation. “It can be detected, but if a laboratory does not have Biosafety Level 4 infrastructure, it may not be able to contain the bio-hazardous virus,” Emeribe disclosed. He said the although the Lahor Laboratory in Irua, Edo state is equipped to diagnose Lassa fever and other less virulent haemorrhagic fevers, it is deficient in the biosafety levels that could enable it handle Ebola without fears of hazardous outcomes. This was buttressed by other experts who disclosed that samples from an established or suspected patient of Ebola virus portend extreme biohazard risk, requiring that testing be conducted under maximum biological containment conditions, which are lacking in most laboratories in Nigeria. This could also be a confirmation of fears that Nigeria may soon be hit by the deadly Ebola virus, as other Nigerian scientists have also expressed concerns that the porous nature of Nigeria’s borders is a huge risk factor for the diseases that has killed scores in neighbouring countries. As at last week, the WHO reported a total of 151 cases that are clinically compatible with Ebola Virus Disease, including 95 deaths from Guinea. It also reported that laboratory investigations continue at the Institut Pasteur (IP) Dakar laboratory in Conakry where 34 of 65 samples tested by PCR for Ebola virus are positive. At the European Union Mobile Laboratory (EMLab) team in Guekedou, Guinea, 20 of 36 tested samples were positive, as medical observation is continuing for 535 contacts. Samples of suspected victims in Mali were tested using assays conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. Some of the samples of suspected cases have been sent to CDC and the Institut Pasteur, Dakar, Senegal for testing. These reports necessitated the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Federal Ministry of Health to raise the alert level for the disease in the past week. Meanwhile, the experts who spoke to Sunday Independent in separate interviews say that Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) bears clinical similarities with common ailments like malaria, typhoid fever, cholera, relapsing fever, meningitis, hepatitis and other viral haemorrhagic fevers, which they say make it even complicated for its diagnosis. Tomori also confirmed that the Specialists Hospital in Irua, Edo State, lacks the capacity to handle diagnosis of Ebola virus. He, however, disclosed that Professor of Biological Sciences at the College of Natural Sciences at Redeemer’s University, Nigeria (RUN), Christian Happi, is currently working with experts at Irua on Lassa fever, giving hopes on Ebola. Head, Veterinary Medicine department at the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia state, Professor Maduike Ezeibe, who confirmed Nigeria’s vulnerability to the disease is, however, optimistic that Nigeria needed to do just a little more to upgrade the facilities at Irua to cover Ebola diagnosis. “At Irua Specialists hospital in Edo, a lot is being done on Lassa fever, and any facility that can handle diagnosis of Lassa could also do same for Ebola if the necessary reagents and conditions are put in place,” Ezeibe told Sunday Independent at the weekend. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has identified the sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat as symptoms of EVD, that are usually followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding. Laboratory findings include low white blood cell and platelet counts and elevated liver enzymes, which could be determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), antigen detection tests, serum neutralization test and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay. Ebola virus was isolated from semen 61 days after onset of illness in a man who was infected in a laboratory, buttressing the fact that people are infectious as long as their blood and secretions contain the virus. The incubation period, that is, the time interval from infection with the virus to onset of symptoms is two to 21 days, according to the WHO. He said, “We do not have any laboratory or facility in the country that can even diagnose Ebola, which also bears similarities with other haemorrhagic fevers like Lassa and Dengue. “Professor Christian Happi of Redeemers University is doing something with the group at Irua specialist Hospital in Edo State, but they are only gathering reagents for testing.” “In the past, we have used Immunoflourescence Antibody (IFA) test for haemorraghic fevers. But that is still not able to detect Ebola clearly,” Tomori said. The first Ebola outbreaks were identified in 1976 simultaneously in Nzara, Sudan, and in Yambuku, Democratic Republic of Congo. Five distinct species of the genus Ebolavirus exist. These are Bundibugyo virus, Ebola virus, Reston virus, Sudan virus and Taï Forest virus. Bundibugyo, Sudan and Ebola species have been associated with large outbreaks of Ebola virus disease in Africa causing death in 25-90 per cent of all clinically ill cases, while Tai Forest and Reston have not. The Ebola virus is transmitted by direct contact with the blood, body fluids and tissues of infected persons. Transmission of the Ebola virus has also occurred by handling sick or dead infected wild animals like chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys, forest antelope, fruit bats. Meanwhile the WHO has said it will not recommend that any travel or trade restrictions be applied to Guinea, Liberia, Mali or Sierra Leone based on the current information available on Ebola.
Posted on: Sun, 13 Apr 2014 11:00:11 +0000
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