Ebola: 139 people under surveillance as Jonathan declares state of emergency

The Federal Government has said that no fewer than 139 people have been placed under surveillance following their alleged contact with the Liberian victim of the deadly Ebola virus.

Addressing a press briefing on Friday in Lagos, the Minister of Health, Prof. Chukwu Onyebuchi, said two new cases of Ebola infection had been recorded in Lagos which now brings to nine the number of cases recorded in Nigeria so far.

The minister said aside the two fresh cases, there were also six suspected cases which had not been confirmed.

He said, “The total number of cases, as of this morning, (Friday) stands at nine out of which eight are Nigerians and one American-Liberian.

“Out of the nine confirmed cases, seven are alive and are receiving treatment In Lagos,” he said. He also noted that the fatality rate so far in Nigeria was between 30 to 26 per cent, adding that the rate in all other ECOWAS countries stood at 65 per cent.

Also, President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday approved the immediate release of N1.9bn to implement a Special Intervention Plan aimed at curtailing further spread of the Ebola virus, which he said its control and containment has become a national emergency.

He also asked school owners across the country to consider extending the current holiday until such a time the Federal Government would have carried out a reassessment of the level of the threat posed by the virus.

While asking religious organisations to discourage gatherings that may increase the spread of the virus, he also asked that movement of corpses from one community to the other or from overseas into Nigeria be stopped forthwith.

These were some of the decisions reached at an emergency meeting of stakeholders called by the President on the virus.