The Medical Director of Barau Dikko Specialist Hospital, Kaduna, Dr. Hussaini Yahaya, has debunked claims making the rounds that the deadly Ebola virus has entered the state, saying emphatically that nobody in Kaduna has contracted the virus.

He spoke yesterday at a joint press briefing organised by the state Bureau for Religious Affairs in collaboration with Council of Imams and Ulamas held in the state.

Dousing the tension that has built up in the state in connection with the Ebola rumours, Dr. Yahaya explained that so far there was no report of the virus in any state of northern Nigeria.

“There is no Ebola virus in Kaduna, Kano, Niger, Abuja or any state in the North. Only Lagos State has case of Ebola. Even in Lagos the seven victims were kept in a specialised place at a hospital where they are receiving treatment apart from the nurse that died of the virus,” he said.

The medical doctor also said that the Kaduna State Government, like others across the country, is doing a lot to ensure that lives of the citizens are protected from the virus.

On the use of salt and water to either prevent or cure the virus Dr. Yahaya said: “Medically it is not true that when you bath with or drink salt it will cure or protect you from Ebola virus. All these are rumours and we are calling on people to disregard such rumours.”

He advised residents to focus on self hygiene such as washing of hands after a handshake, before eating and to avoid touching people that are confirmed to be seriously ill with the Ebola virus.

In his remarks, the State Chairman of the Council of Ulamas and Imams, Sheikh Abubakar Usman Baban Tune, urged people, particularly Muslims, to remain calm and disregard the rumours going round about the virus.

“We as religious leaders are deeply concerned with the issue but we are urging our people to disregard the rumour of drinking salt. We believe that there is no sickness without medicine but people should wait for advice from experts and religious leaders,” he said.

Sheikh Baban Tune disclosed that the Council of Ulamas and Imams has directed all Juma’at mosque Imans to inform the people during their sermons to be calm and pray for Allah’s protection from the virus.

He also urged people to repent and seek Allah’s forgiveness for their sins.

•Photo shows doctors attending to an Ebola patient.