By Septimus Senessie in Kono
District Medical Officer, DMO, in Kono has told journalists of proof of Ebola in the eastern diamond-rich district, with one patient diagnosed and proven positive.
Dr. Manso Dumbuya said the latest medical verification of Fatmata Pomboh’s condition marked the first officially confirmed case so far since the outbreak of the deadly disease in the country.
At the press conference organized by the district health management team and its partners at the UN conference hall in Koidu town last week the medico updated on the status of the disease in the district, saying that the victim had got it from her dead sister.
“Fatmata apparently contracted the virus from her late sister, Mammy Pomboh who had died of the disease after she had contracted it in Kenema district where she had earlier attended a funeral ceremony of one of their relatives who also died of a Ebola”, he explained.
He told journalists that the Ebola patient was gradually responding to treatment at the isolation centre in Kenema where she was immediately transferred for prompt medical treatment.
The DMO said Mammy might not have died of the virus had she reported the case to the government facilities for the necessary medical treatment. He said she was admitted at a Pharmacy at Turner Street in Koidu where she later died of suspected Ebola and was taken home for burial.
Dr. Dumbuya said they associated the death to Ebola because the care-giver, Fatmata, who fell ill after almost two weeks of her sister’s death, was diagnosed and she proved positive. He announced that the nurse, who was treating her and a good number of some of the relatives who had body contact with the deceased, were on the run. This, he warned, could spread the virus to others in the district if they were not immediately traced and quarantined.
He said to address that they had intensified contact tracing in the district, especially of those who had direct contacts with the corpse, adding that they had quarantined 35 of them at the moment at both Turner and Abdul Karim Streets. He said they would be isolated for a 21-day period and would in their houses with 24-hour police supervision until their blood samples were cleared by the lab in Kenema.
He said with the help of the district and town councils, the isolated families member were each being provided withLe30,000 worth of support on a daily basis while intensive thermometer diagnoses was regularly being done on them.
The DMO also told journalists to come on board and help in the sensitisation campaigns while informing the public on the need for contract tracing.
On a related development the Mayor of Koidu, Mayor Saa Emerson Lamina, has formally launched the “Mayoral Taskforce on Ebola” in line with the president’s call to fight the deadly disease out of the district.
He also declared three days of fasting and prayers to be spearheaded by the inter-religious council in the district. He said a deadly disease like Ebola in a country “can utterly paralyze development in a country”, adding that “it can prevent investor from investing in a country.”
He promised to mourn those who lost their lives to Ebola, especially the medical workers who died during the course of saving lives. He told his people that Ebola was real and therefore all must join the president irrespective of politics.
(C) Politico 07/08/14
