The resurgence of Ebola Virus Disease in Liberia has claimed a second victim. Deputy Health Minister Tolbert Nyenswah told The Associated Press the woman in her early 20s who died on July 12 was linked to the 17-year-old boy who died last month. Three other confirmed cases are being treated in Monrovia.
He said some of the more than 120 people under observation in Nedowein, southeast of Monrovia, could be discharged once they complete 21 days of quarantine and show no signs of infection.
Liberia lost more than 4,800 lives to Ebola before it contained transmission in May. These are the first known cases since then. The World Health Organization says the new cases are likely not linked to travel.
Meanwhile Prospective pilgrims for the 2015 Hajj
to Saudi Arabia from Jigawa State, in Nigeria, would undergo screening for Ebola
Virus and other diseases.
Executive Secretary of the state Pilgrims Welfare Board, Alhaji Alhassan Muhammad, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria.
Muhammad said the screening was to ascertain the health status of the prospective pilgrims before they embark on the pilgrimage.
The executive secretary recalled that
Nigeria had been declared EVD-free by the World Health Organisation “but
the board is taking precautionary measures to protect the state’s
pilgrims from contracting the diseases.”
He said all prospective pilgrims in the state must be screened before they would be allowed to pay their fare.
He added that final screening would be conducted at the airport to stop pregnant women from embarking on the journey.
“All intending pilgrims must be screened by our medical team before they will be allowed to pay their fare.
However, concerned Nigerians who spoke with Nigeria Natural Health Online, said the directive from the Jigawa pilgrim board was as a result of the strict measure being taking by Saudi Arabia to make sure that people coming into that country are ebola free. The question now is: what measures are being taken by the Nigerian government to make sure that people coming into the country, especially from Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, are certified ebola free before they come in?
