August 11, 2014 – The Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola has said that five patients out of the ten persons afflicted with the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) are responding to treatment.
He said the five persons who are currently in isolation in Lagos Island are in stable condition.
Fashola made the disclosure at an interactive meeting with traditional rulers and religious leaders on the Ebola outbreak. He said that eight people have tested positive while the results of two were still being awaited.
According to him, the disease is not a death sentence provided the right things are done. The governor explained that experiences have shown that the human body could fight back through constant hydration, intravenous infusion and regular administration of antibiotics.
While enjoining traditional rulers to properly educate their subjects, he called on religious leaders not to go spiritual on the matter.
Speaking on the meeting, one of the traditional rulers- the Ojora of Ijora, Oba Abdul-Fatai Aromire said that he and other royal fathers present will pass on the message to their subjects. He thanked the governor for reaching out to them on ways to minimize spread of the ailment.
Ebola has killed 932 people in West African countries of Nigeria, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia since March 24, 2014 when the first case was recorded in Guinea. So far, the disease has no cure but Zmapp, produced from tobacco leaf by a San Diego-based Zmapp Pharmaceutical firm administered on Dr. Kenth Brantley and Nancy Writebol, two Americans now on admission at Emory University Hospital in the United States has raised hope over probable cure to the disease.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Monday convened an emergency meeting with ethicists, drug regulators, scientific experts and lay people on the role of experimental therapies in the Ebola outbreak response.
Issues to be considered include the extent of available scientific data on efficacy and safety, principles for guiding access to these therapies, principles for fair distribution, and possibilities.
