Ebola: Oyo institutes 24-hr surveillance
The Oyo State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Muyiwa Gbadegesin said on Sunday that the state government had instituted 24-hour monitoring and tracking of suspected cases in all 33 local government areas of the state.
The commissioner disclosed this in a statement issued in Ibadan on Sunday.
Gbadegesin said that emphasis was particularly placed on the border regions of Saki West, Iwajowa, Atisbo and Itesiwaju Council Areas, adding that the tracking of foreigners coming into and leaving the state was also ongoing.
“There is also a strong collaboration with officials of the Federal Ministry of Health, other Southwest Ministries of Health, World Health Organization and University College Hospital, Ibadan on surveillance, tracking and case management of suspected, probable or confirmed cases,’’ he said.
The commissioner, disclosed that there are no reported cases of Ebola virus disease in the state, said that an isolation ward was also being constructed at the University College Hospital (UCH) to take care of any confirmed Ebola patients.
He also said that the state branch of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) had promised that despite the ongoing industrial action by medical doctors in the country, doctors in the state would be ready to render their services during any emergency, including treatment of Ebola patients upon reporting to any public health facility in the state.
The commissioner advised members of the public to maintain proper personal hygiene like regular hand washing with soap and water, and to report any person suspected to be having fever, diarrhoea, vomiting, rashes and bleeding or anybody who might have died due to cause(s) not known, to the nearest health facility.
He said that government was particularly interested in those persons with the above listed symptoms who might have visited Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea recently.
Gbadegesin cautioned the people of the state against the use of unorthodox methods of curing Ebola virus disease, like taking salt or bitter cola.
