Ekiti State government on Friday advised the people of the state not to term common ailments such as chronic fever as the dreaded Ebola virus and charged the people to obey all medical advice on the virus.

The state Commissioner for Health, Professor Olusola Fasuba, gave the warning at an awareness creation forum in Ado Ekiti, the state capital, following rumours that some people had contracted the Ebola virus in some communities in the state.

Professor Fasuba alluded to a rumour from the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) permanent orientation camp that a corps member posted to the state had taken ill owing to the virus, which led to his being abandoned.

The commissioner explained that it was not true that the youth corp member who took ill at the camp had the Ebola virus. 

According to him, although information reaching his office from the ministry of Youth and Sports confirmed that the concerned male corp member (names witheld) collapsed at the orientation camp at Ise/Emure Ekiti, it was unfortunate that people around him ran away and abandoned him.

Fasuba disclosed that upon hearinng about the development, he swung into action by ensuring that the sick boy was immediately attended to by a team of health workers who later discovered that he was only  having chronic fever.

However, he said in order to be very sure of his correct state of health, his blood samples were taken and sent to Lagos, adding that the results which arrived the state on Thursday also indicated that he tested negative to Ebola.

“The youth corp member has been removed from camp and is currently being kept at our isolated centre located within Oba Adejugbe General Hospital, Ado-Ekiti.

“As I speak, I assure residents that the health of the boy in question is already improving while he continues to show signs of good health far from Ebola” he said.

The health commissioner who warned rumour mongers to desist from spreading false information that could mislead or scare people said government had taken some pro- active measures to prevent Ebola from spreading to the state.

He listed some of such steps to include banning of movement of uncertificated dead bodies into the state, constitution of 30 technical committees as well as creation of three isolated centres in Ado-Ekiti, Okemesi-Ekiti and Ifaki-Ekiti.

CULLED FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

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