The Technical sub-committee of the Delta State Inter-Ministerial Ebola Preparedness and Response Committee said it has successfully carried out three suspected contact tracing of persons coming from Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) prone areas in West Africa.
The functioning Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Dr Michael Omatsola, gave the revelation in Asaba at a training of trainers (TOT) workshop on Ebola Virus Disease, organized by the sub-committee for health workers in the medical zones in Delta North Senatorial district.
Dr Omatsola said that the State Rapid Response Team (SRRT) got wind of two Deltan and one Sierra Leonean coming to Delta State from Liberia and Sierra Leone and quickly monitored them from the Lagos border before placing them on surveillance for signs and symptoms of the EVD.
According to him, the Ebola suspected persons had since been allowed to go about their normal businesses after failing to exhibit any signs and symptoms of the Ebola Virus Disease following their observance for the stipulated 21 days.
He also revealed that so far, seven persons suspected to be having the EVD have had their blood samples screened by the sub-committee at the Virology laboratories in Lagos and Port-Harcourt, disclosing that they all proved negative.
Dr Omatsola said the State Rapid Response Team responded swiftly to every call of suspected Ebola cases to nip in the bud any likely confirmed case from spreading to other persons in the State.
He urged health personnel to desist from turning away persons that present with symptoms similar to the EVD but rather should endeavour to observe every universal safety precautions, warning that patients could easily die of diarrhea if left unattended, stressing that most cases of vomiting and stooling of blood were not necessarily Ebola.
The permanent secretary called on the workshop participants to take the training seriously rather than be complacent because the disease had been contained in the country, explaining that they needed to be prepared at all times since the disease was still spread fast in neighbouring West African countries.
The training workshop benefited participants drawn from among doctors, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory scientists, disease surveillance officers and scientific officers. Similar trainings were held recently in Warri and Ughelli for health personnel in Delta South and Central Senatorial districts.
*Story by Churchill Oyowe (PRO), Ministry of Health, Asaba, Delta State