TheCable

The federal government has advised Nigerians to be vigilant and embrace basic hygiene in light of the fresh outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Liberia.

This is contained in a statement signed by Ayotunde Adesugba, director press and public relations, federal ministry of health, Abuja, on Thursday.

The statement urged Nigerians not to panic on the development in Liberia, as the ministry was reactivating its response mechanism and increasing the level of its alert.

“All state ministries of health and health facilities are hereby advised to raise their alert level and report any suspected case to the federal ministry of health,” the statement read.

“The resurgence of EVD in Liberia confirms that the Ebola Virus is still circulating in that country and transmission from person-to person is possible.

“A 17-year-old boy from a village near the Liberian capital died of Ebola. He had no history of travelling out of Liberia and no history of coming into contact with any known Ebola case.

“The boy has since been buried but Liberian health officials are worried that he may have transmitted the virus to many other people who came into contact with him.

“This means that the country, which was certified EVD free by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on May 9, 2015 has witnessed a resurgence of the disease.”

Three cases have been confirmed in the fresh outbreak of the deadly virus.

“We have, as of yesterday, three confirmed cases. One expired, who was the 17-year-old boy … The two live cases are 24 years old and 27 years old. They are stable,” Tolbert Nyenswah, deputy health minister, said on Thursday.

Out of the 11,200 killed in the last outbreak of Ebola in West Africa, 4, 800 were from Liberia.