Furore Over Ebola Isolation Centre Location In Rivers State; 70 Under Surveillance, Unnamed Hotel Sealed

Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu

The Proposed Isolation Centre which the Rivers State Commissioner for Health Dr Tamunoiyoriari Samson Parker announced which was to be located in a community in one of the LGAs neighbouring Port Harcourt City has led to an uproar as the youths are said to the set against the location of the Isolation Centre in their area.

Speaking with newsmen in Abuja today, the Minister said the doctor died on Friday, August 22nd after treating a diplomat who had direct contact with Patrick Sawyer, the first case of Ebola virus disease in Nigeria. He said laboratory analysis on his corpse showed he died from Ebola.
Following the death of Dr Iyke Enemoah in Port Harcourt, 70 people who had primary and secondary contacts with the doctor and the hospital where he worked have now been put under surveillance in a bid to stop the spread of the deadly virus in the city.

The Minister appealed to residents under surveillance in Port Harcourt to abide by the advice given to them by health officials. He urged other residents not to panic, saying the Nigerian government is in full control of the situation.

The doctor’s death brings to six the number of people that have died of Ebola in Nigeria. The first five, including Mr. Sawyer, died in Lagos.