Rivers State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Samson Parker, has given an
insight to how the dreaded Ebola virus crept into the state and claimed
its first victim, Dr. Iyke Samuel Enemuo, a medical doctor.
Giving an update on the ebola virus disease in the state Friday, Parker
said the late Enemuo treated a Nigerian diplomat attached to the
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Oluibukun Koye, who
had evaded the surveillance team in Lagos to travel to Port Harcourt.
He declared that Enemuo was aware that Koye had the ebola virus disease
(EVD) before treating him at a mushroom hotel in Port Harcourt.
Parker said: “He (Koye) had received the late Dr. Patrick Sawyer in Lagos. Upon developing the symptom, he confided in a female colleague, called Lillian, who contacted the late Dr. Enemuo. It was after contact was established with Dr. Enemuo that Oluibukun Koye flew to Port Harcourt to see Dr. Enemuo”.
"To conceal his movement, Koye, who had been under surveillance with
other people for having primary contact with the late Dr. Sawyer, the
Liberian-American who transmuted the Ebola virus into Nigeria, sneaked
out of the isolation unit where he was being observed and took a flight
to Port Harcourt and switched off his phone so that he cannot be reached
or traced should he answer a call."
The Health Commissioner also disclosed that the number of persons
under surveillance in the state has increased from 100 to 160.
"Our contact tracing team is working seriously to make sure we contain the spread of the Ebola virus in Rivers State," he said.
It was also disclosed that Enemuo’s wife who gave birth only three months ago, is ill, She was said to have developed symptoms of the disease and currently under quarantine.
She was said to have requested to be taken to Lagos and kept in an isolation unit for treatment and observation.
“She is also a doctor. Her three-month-old baby is alive and well. The result of the test conducted on her (for Ebola) is not yet out,” Parker said.
"Our contact tracing team is working seriously to make sure we contain the spread of the Ebola virus in Rivers State," he said.
It was also disclosed that Enemuo’s wife who gave birth only three months ago, is ill, She was said to have developed symptoms of the disease and currently under quarantine.
She was said to have requested to be taken to Lagos and kept in an isolation unit for treatment and observation.
“She is also a doctor. Her three-month-old baby is alive and well. The result of the test conducted on her (for Ebola) is not yet out,” Parker said.
Details to follow
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