With 10 people infected and 3 dead, the Ebola toll in Nigeria worries experts. According to Dr. Eric Leroy, virus specialist, an epidemic focus in the megalopolis of Lagos would be a disaster.
On Monday, Nigeria confirmed a new case of Ebola in Lagos, the largest city in West Africa. This brought the total number of patients infected with the virus so far in the country to ten, according to the Nigerian Ministry of Health. Worse still, this Tuesday Jatto Asihu Abdulqudir, an employee of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) died in the former capital of Nigeria following a hemmoragic fever linked to the Ebola virus in Lagos. This is the third death recorded in Lagos, city of 15,230,000residents. In this context, virus experts are worried about the dramatic consequences if an epidemic focus emerges in this immense megalopolis.
Outbreak in Lagos could lead to tens of thousands of deaths
Contacted by the editorial staff of why actor, the Dr Eric Leroy, Director of Research at IRD (1), within the joint research unit “Infectious diseases and vectors: ecology, genetics, evolution and control” explains: “The epidemic in West Africa is already dying. ‘a very, very large scale, but imagine a household developing in a megalopolis like Lagos. There, it will not be a thousand deaths that we will have, but several tens of thousands of deaths, warns this specialist in the Ebola virus. “We therefore have a clear justification for embarking on large-scale vaccine development in order to have preventive measures,” he admits. In this he agrees with the opinion of the WHO which yesterday declared itself in favor of the use of unauthorized treatments to fight against the Ebola epidemic which is raging in West Africa.
To explain the threat that now hangs over Lagos, the Director General of the International Center for Medical Research in Franceville in Gabon says that the medical teams on site have come up against cultural barriers. “The local populations have not really adhered to the measures that must be applied on the ground. The virus is spread from person to person through physical contact. There, some families continued to care for their patients themselves. They have therefore sometimes concealed the infected people. In addition, there is a tradition in these countries of exhibiting the body at the time of death. And before burying it some people have the habit of touching the body. All this explains why outbreaks have erupted on the right and on the left. This is what happened in West Africa, ”he continues.
Listen to Dr Eric Leroy, Research Director atIRD : ” Therapeutic and health measures are sometimes very complicated. This is why we must embark on large-scale vaccine development… “
Finally, this specialist in the Ebola virus maintains that an outbreak in Lagos is “possible”. “Because there have already been several cases that have arrived in Lagos from Liberia or Sierra Leone. But here, the advantage is that the person who declared the symptoms was quickly taken care of by the medical team and isolated. The infected patients therefore did not have time to transmit the virus. The hope is therefore that the few cases that appeared in Lagos could be quickly identified. Where the risk is greater is if other sick people have joined this megalopolis without anyone knowing. In this case, the patient has the potential to spread the virus everywhere, ”he concludes.
Listen to Dr Eric Leroy : ” For the reported cases, the risk of spreading the virus in Lagos is minimal because they have been isolated. On the other hand, big question mark on possible patients who would have gone to Lagos without the knowledge of the surveillance systems. “
(1) Research Institute for Development
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