THE MYTH AND THE TRUTH ON EBOLA

The Ebola outbreak in Guinea and its spread to other areas of West Africa, including Nigeria has caused global alarm. According to the Centre for Disease Control, since the detection of Ebola in March, the number of suspected and confirmed cases attributed to Ebola in the West African countries, such as Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria stands at 1,711.

Meanwhile, a Saudi man tested for the disease has died in Jeddah after returning from Sierra Leone on Sunday. If there were a linkage of the Saudi man’s death to the Ebola virus, it would be the first fatality outside the West African countries.

US REJECT GIVING EXPERIMENTAL EBOLA DRUGS TO NIGERIA

The United States of America, yesterday, dashed the hope of an early cure for Ebola Virus victims in Nigeria when it refused to share the trial drug with Nigeria. US President Barak Obama says it would be premature to share the experimental drug with Africa.

The Federal Government had earlier reached out to the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, in Atlanta, to request for the drug for treatment of EVD affected persons in Nigeria, but President Obama turned down the request, saying it would be far more beneficial to focus on prevention instead.

Nigeria recorded its first Ebola Virus disease fatality on Tuesday when one of the nurses who was one of the primary contacts of the American-Liberian, Patrick Sawyer, passed on. The doctor who treated Sawyer, who died in the country after flying into Lagos, is now ill with Ebola and six other primary contacts are currently ill with the disease in a Lagos hospital where they are quarantined.

LATEST ON EBOLA: PREVENTION

Someone woke me this morning urging me to bathe with salt water. I picked up my phone and saw messages like this:

"Urgent & serious health alert. Pls tell everyone u know. Information on ground now says ppl shud put salt in water & bath today 8th Aug, 2014 b4 6am. Don't use soap while bathing with it & dnt dry ur body with any towel, only allow d water to dry in ur body. Also put d salt in water & drink. Hurry now prevention is better than regret. Spread dis msg now to everyone U know to cut off Ebola virus from further spreading"

My neighbour called me from her window, (she didn't want to risk coming out without first of all having her own bath) telling me to bathe with hot water and salt.

Why are some people just causing unnecessary panic and peddling same on social media?

Ebola is not airborne though there are indications that it may be carried by droplets over short distances. There is no evidence to support the use of bathing & drinking salt water as helpful measures.

From bitter-kolo to bathing with salt. Chai naija. Next time dem go say make we no eat food again to avoid Ebola virus. Hahaha

APC IS NOT PREPARED TO LEAVE LAGOS FOR PDP – OLOGUNDE

Chief Funsho Ologunde is the Vice chairman Lagos West of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Lagos State. In this interview , he boasts that the APC will maintain its hold in Lagos State come 2015. Excerpts:

The outcome of the Ekiti governorship elections took many by surprise especially chieftains of your party. What measures are you putting in place to ensure your party fortunes do not dwindle?

We had a bad experience with the Ekiti election but to us, we have taken it as an eye opener. We have doubled our efforts and fine tuned our strategies, first for Osun, which is coming up next week and also for the 2015 general elections.

We are ready for the situation. We have seen areas of our weakness and we saw where the PDP was able to manipulate the election process to their own advantage.

EBOLA ALERT! FG STOPS TRANSPORTATION OF CORPSES INTO NIGERIA

As part of preventive measures against the Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, the Federal Government has directed relevant authorities to henceforth stop receiving corpses from the West African countries into the country.

The government specifically banned the bringing of corpses from the West African countries where the spread of EVD had been established. It however said that there was no fresh case of Ebola virus disease in the country.

The implication is that any Nigerian who dies in any of the affected West African country would be buried  there as the cost of keeping such corpses in mortuaries until the EVD palaver settled could be very enormous. It also means less expenses for such bereaved families who may have to bury their loved ones in the said countries of West Africa.

IMO STATE: CONTRACTORS RUNS WITH MOBILIZATION FEES

When Chief Rochas Okorocha came on board as Governor of Imo State, he told the world that he was in a haste to develop the state.

One of the major issues he tackled almost immediately was the rehabilitation or reconstruction of the road network in the state. He went to work with electrifying speed that most citizens started wondering how he was funding the numerous projects.

Many contractors, who were largely unknown in road construction world, were engaged by the administration to execute the projects. Several roads were actually opened and this elicited high hopes and acclamation from the people.

MAN STABS HIS GIRLFRIEND TO DEATH BECAUSE SHE REFUSED TO MARRY HIM

As 26 year-old girl, Gift Sunday, left her abode in Ketu , Lagos, to meet her boyfriend, Raphael Effiong, who had invited her over on phone, Monday, July 28, 2014. Never, in her wildest imagination, did she envisage that would be her last day on earth.

Time was 8.30pm, shortly after the Anietie family whom Gift stayed with, had their dinner.

While other members of the family retired early, Gift announced that she was going to meet her boyfriend, who was well known by the family.

But apprehension reportedly set in when she did not return by midnight. Tension, heightened after efforts to reach her on the phone proved abortive as it was discovered to be switched off.

Next day, the family’s fear was confirmed following the visit of a woman later discovered to be a management staff of Mayor Guest house located at 10 Yusuf Eleran street, Ketu. The woman was said to have invited Gift’s sister , Mrs Ume Anietie to Fine Day hospital at Elebiju street, where she was informed that Gift had passed on!