BY Fredrick Nwabufo
An experimental drug for treatment of Ebola has been provided by a Nigerian in diaspora and will arrive the country today, health minister Onyebuchi Chukwu, has said.
The drug, called “Nanosilver”, can now be used following the approval by the World Health Organisation (WHO) that experimental treatments are ethical in the case of the Ebola pandemic.
The Nigerian government authorised the use of experimental drugs on Wednesday.
The US sent ZMapp, another experimental drug, to Liberia on Wednesday, while Canada has decided to donate 1,000 vaccines to the affected countries.
According to Chukwu, the experimental drug is a donation from a Nigerian scientist who was concerned about threat of Ebola in his home country.
“The drug will reach Nigeria today,” he said.
Chukwu disclosed that the 169 secondary contacts were still under surveillance, while in all Ebola 11 cases had been recorded, including the index case, Patrick Sawyer, and the two Nigerians who died of the disease.
“Some of the people under surveillance have completed the 21 days incubation period, and we have to let them go,” he said.
The minister said the nurse, who is a primary contact, who had travelled to Enugu had not developed the symptoms as of the time of her trip, dispelling fears that she might have infected other people.
“In Enugu yesterday, there were 21 secondary contacts with the nurse, but after investigations, there are only six secondary contacts now,” he stated.
“The nurse who is newly-wedded had no symptoms of the disease when she travelled to Enugu, and while coming back to Lagos she travelled in a special ambulance with her husband. Her husband is under quarantine now.”
Chukwu maintained that only Lagos state has recorded Ebola cases.
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