EBOLA: FASHOLA URGES FG TO SHUT BOARDS

AS Ebola epidemic continues to ravage parts of West Africa without any hope of cure in sight, Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State has urged the Federal Government to shut Nigeria’s borders with neighbouring countries without delay to avert the spread of the disease.
   Fashola’s concern came on the heels of the controversy generated by the recent case of a corpse from Liberia said to have entered through Lagos to Anambra State.
    Fashola, while speaking with journalists Friday at Ikeja House, noted: “This is no longer a local, but an international problem because it is easily transmittable across the borders and boundaries.
  “The federal government team has been working with the state team. I think what the federal government needs to do at this time is to consider the imperative of closing some of our borders.
    “It is difficult to stop this epidemic. We must now choose the treaty obligations that we hold under the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) treaty and perhaps short-term benefits, in terms of economic cost to human life.
   “We must make that choice and consider it very seriously. It is a national security issue and I think we should give it that attention. I think men and women who man our border posts – sea, air and land, especially the Customs, now know that they are our first line of defence,” he said.
    Fashola added: “There is a risk to the entire sub-region. I like to appreciate all the health workers at the state level for the very professional manner they have responded while I was out of the country.”
   But the World Health Organisation (WHO) Chief, Margaret Chan, while admitting yesterday that the outbreak is out of control, was however optimistic that it can be stopped.
        “This outbreak is moving faster than our efforts to control it,” Chan told the Presidents of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone at a meeting in Guinea’s capital, Conakry.
  Reuters, quoting a WHO transcript, said Chan added: “If the situation continues to deteriorate, the consequences can be catastrophic, in terms of lost lives, but also severe socio-economic disruption and a high risk of spread to other countries.This meeting must mark a turning point in the outbreak response”.
   The outbreak is by far the largest in the four-year history of the disease, with about 729 deaths, including over than 60 healthcare workers.
  Experience showed that the outbreak could be stopped and the general public was not at high risk of infection, but it would be “extremely unwise” to let the virus circulate widely over a long period of time, she said.
   “Constant mutation and adaptation are the survival mechanisms of viruses and other microbes. We must not give this virus opportunities to deliver more surprises,” Chan added.
  She stated that the outbreak could be stopped and the public was not at high risk of infection, noting that governments might need to restrict population movements and public gatherings and use the police and civil defence forces to guarantee the security of response teams.
   Two Americans working for aid group, Samaritan’s Purse, who contracted the disease in Liberia, were in a serious condition and would be medically evacuated back home early next week, the organisation said.
 T  he outbreak has prompted some international organisations to withdraw. The U.S. Peace Corps has said it was withdrawing 340 volunteers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
  Samaritans Purse said yesterday that it would complete the evacuation of its 60 international staff from Liberia over the weekend and WaterAid said it was suspending its operations there as well.
  The WHO is launching a $100 million response plan and the United States (US) is providing material and technical support to the three countries.
  Further assistance will be discussed at a meeting in Washington next week. Chan said she was taking personal responsibility for coordinating international response efforts and mobilising the vast support needed to fight the virus.
  The WHO has convened an emergency committee for August 6 to 7 to decide if the outbreak constitutes a public health emergency of international concern and to recommend measures to tackle it.
    “The demands created by Ebola in West Africa outstrip your capacities to respond,” Chan told the presidents, saying cultural practices, such as traditional burials and deep-seated beliefs, were a significant cause of the spread and a barrier to containment and needed to change.
    Giving update on the Ebola issue, Prof Abdulsalami Nasidi of the National Centre For Disease Control (NCDC), who briefed the press with the state government officials, allayed fears of possible outbreak from the corpse brought in from Liberia.
    He said: “All the handlers of the corpse brought into the country from Liberia will be registered and tracked and those who accompanied the corpse to Anambra and the mortuary handlers are under quarantine in Anambra State.
   “Our team in Anambra State will tomorrow (today) give us the statistics of those who came in contact with the corpse.”