AA / Vaccination
The Nigerian Center for Disease Control said on Wednesday it was on high alert following two cases of the deadly Marburg virus were confirmed in Ghana.
Marburg is a highly contagious disease from the same family as the virus that causes Ebola.
The center said in a statement that “Nigeria has capabilities that help in the immediate detection of any infection from abroad.”
The country’s doctors have also been instructed to prepare and strengthen surveillance, according to the same source.
The center called on Nigerians to strictly adhere to preventive measures to avoid non-essential travel to places where the outbreak has been reported.
He also advised once morest direct contact with blood, saliva, vomit, urine and other bodily fluids for people suspected or confirmed to have Marburg virus disease.
Two days ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the first outbreak of a new virus on the African continent, which belongs to the Ebola virus family, which is transmitted by animals.
The organization said in a statement that the new virus is called “Marburg” and its outbreak was announced 11 months following the first infection was recorded in Ghana.
The organization said tests confirmed two people were infected with the virus in Ghana, and more than 90 contacts, including health workers and community members, were being monitored and screened.
There have been 12 outbreaks of Marburg virus since 1967, mostly in southern and eastern Africa, in places like Angola, Congo, Kenya and Uganda.
*Translated from Arabic by Issa Aliou
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