Traces of Ebola have been reported in some parts of Nasarawa State even as the state government has said it is on top of the situation.

Nasarawa State Commissioner for Health, Emmanuel Akabe, said he was aware of an outbreak of a disease in Taka Lafia, a community in Karshi, which borders the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, but declined to confirm if it was an outbreak of the deadly virus, assuring that government was on top of the situation.

Sources told The Guardian that five people were taken to an undisclosed hospital in the area after which series of tests carried out on them indicated symptoms of Ebola.

A hospital source said the victims were quickly confined into the male ward of the hospital while the result of the test was sent to Abuja for further test to ascertain if the patients have been infected.

But Akabe said the development is an outbreak of cholera, which has affected five people in the area, adding that local council health workers in the state have been detailed on how to handle suspicious cases of Ebola.

He said government has set up an isolation centre in Federal Medical Centre FMC Keffi, where infected and suspicious cases would be handled, disclosing that other centres would soon be set up in Abuja’s suburb of Nyanyan and Mararaba in the state.

The commissioner said the State Government has not procured Personnel Protection Equipment (PPE) yet, but is at the moment relying on left over equipment of a previous lasa fever epidemic which, he said, has the same protective capacity with the current ones being used for Ebola.

Akabe told The Guardian that the State Government was still awaiting the Federal Government support in terms of funds and tents.

The Guardian observed that the state capital Lafia, and other major towns in the state have no single emergency centre in case of a reported case of Ebola.

It was also gathered that a previous lasa fever isolation centre at the Lafia specialist hospital was expected to serve the same purpose for Ebola, but due to congestion, government decided to relocate it to FMC Keffi.

•Credit (except for headline): The Guardian. Photo shows an Ebola health worker in a local community.

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