Dear All, By now we must all have heard about the outbreak of the Ebola Virus in Nigeria. Hence, the purpose of this communication is to provide you with useful information on the virus and tips on how to protect yourself and your family members and relatives from infection by the virus. The Ebola Virus is not new to Africa. It was first detected in Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 1976. A few months later, the second Ebola virus emerged in Zaire. The last known Ebola virus before the current outbreak was in Cote dIvoire in 1994. The current outbreak started in Guinea in March 2014 when a 2-year old boy was infected. It spread to Sierra Leone and Liberia. By far the current outbreak has been the largest. According to World Health Organization (WHO), as at July 23, 2014, a total of 1,201 cases of the desease has been detected resulting in 672 deaths. Ebola Virus appeared for the first time in Nigeria following the visit of an infected Liberian-American Patrick Sawyer to Lagos on July 20, 2014. According to WHO about 13 cases have so far been reported in Lagos with 2 deaths. Although the Ebola Virus Desease (EVD) does result in death of some infected persons, it is not in all cases that it results in death. The mortality rate has been put at between 55 to 60% by WHO. Early detection and treatment improves the chances of survival. There is no need to panic as it is possible to avoid infection if we pay attention to the following guidelines issued by Health officials: • The suspected reservoir for Ebola are fruit bats • Transmission to humans is through bats and primates • Undercooked infected bats and primates (bush meat) have to be avoided • Human to human transmission is only achieved by physical contact with a person who is acutely and gravely ill from Ebola virus or their body fluids. Hence, we must avoid contact with persons who are sick with the virus. • Transmission amongst humans is high only with Care Givers and health professionals attending to infected persons • Ebola virus is not carried in the air, so we should not fear that we may contact it simply by breathing air around infected people • The virus is easily killed by contact with soap. Hence, we should maintain high level of personal hygiene by regularly washing our hands • We should avoid crowded places. If we must be in a crowded place, we might consider wearing long sleeve dresses or shirts and hand gloves where possible The Federal Government in line with the WHO advise to all countries battling the outbreak has declared a state of emrgency in respect of the Ebola virus. Hence, all efforts are being mobilized to bring the disease under control. There is therefore no need to panic. Lets continue to follow advise issued from time to time by public health officials. IThe Lagos State Goverment has provided contact numbers to call in case help is needed. The numbers are 08055329229 and 08033065303. Should we come across anyone showing symptoms of the disease, we can call the help numbers to call the attention of public health officials to the individual. It is important to point out that though our medical care scheme covers all forms of illnesses (including treatment for Ebola virus disease). However, with the declaration of emergency by the Federal Government, treatment for Ebola virus disease (EVD) has become an issue of national importance, hence cases have to be reported to Goverment health officials. They cannot be treated as we do other forms of illnesses In order to provide further enlightenment, HR Managers are hereby requested to arrange for sensitization workshops in all Group companies. This should be done urgently and in partnership with our HMOs to enable employees understand how to deal with the Ebola virus outbreak better. Regards
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 14:27:42 +0000
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