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Ebola: Nigeria Approves Use Of Experimental Drugs

The National Health Research Ethics Committee, Nigeria, has approved the use of an experimental Ebola drug, Zmapp, for treatment of patients infected with the virus.  

The decision by the committee is coming on the heels of yesterday’s approval by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on the use of Zmapp for treatment of Ebola patients.
culled;niyidaram

Photos: University lecturer dresses in Ebola suit to lecture his students

Did this really happen? Lol.  lecturer dressed in Ebola suit with a lion mask to cover his face when he came to lecture them this morning at Anambra State University, Ulli in the department of Mass Communication. She told the students to pardon her costume that she's trying to prevent himself from the disease. See more pics after the cut...

 

Photos: LIB

Ebola: WHO approves experimental drugs •As death toll tops 1,000

The World Health Organisation authorised the use of experimental drugs in the fight against Ebola on Tuesday as the death toll topped 1,000 and a Spanish priest became the first European to succumb to the latest outbreak of the virus.
According to AFP, the declaration by the UN’s health agency came after a US company that makes an experimental serum said it had sent all its available supplies to hard-hit west Africa.

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“In the particular circumstances of this outbreak, and provided certain conditions are met... it is ethical to offer unproven interventions with as yet unknown efficacy and adverse effects,” the WHO said in a statement following a teleconference between medical experts.
The current outbreak, described as the worst since Ebola was first discovered four decades ago, has now killed 1,013 people since early this year, the WHO said.
Cases have so far been limited to Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, all in west Africa where ill-equipped and fragile health systems are struggling to cope.
Elderly Spanish priest Miguel Pajares, who became infected while helping patients in Liberia died in a Madrid hospital on Tuesday, five days after being evacuated.
Monrovia said it had requested samples of an experimental drug, ZMapp, that has shown some positive effects on two US aid workers but failed to save the Spanish priest.
Supplies would be brought in by a representative of the US government later this week, the Liberian government said.
There is currently no available cure or vaccine for Ebola, which the WHO has declared a global public health emergency, and the use of experimental drugs has stoked an ethical debate.
Despite promising results for the ZMapp treatment, made by private US company Mapp Biopharmaceutical, it is still in an early phase of development and had only been tested previously on monkeys.
ZMapp is in very short supply, but its use on the Western aid workers evacuated to the United States last week triggered controversy and demands that it be made available in Africa.
Mapp said it had sent all its available supplies to West Africa.
“In responding to the request received this weekend from a West African nation, the available supply of ZMapp is exhausted,” it said in a statement.
“Any decision to use ZMapp must be made by the patients’ medical team,” it said, adding that the drug was “provided at no cost in all cases”.
The company did not reveal which nation received the doses, or how many were sent.
But the Liberian presidency said: “The White House and the United States Food and Drug Administration have approved the request for sample doses of experimental serum to treat Liberian doctors who are currently infected with the deadly Ebola virus disease.”
Ebola claims its first European victim: Spanish priest dies in Madrid
A Spanish priest who became the first person carrying the deadly Ebola virus to be brought back to Europe for treatment has died in a Madrid hospital.
Miguel Pajares, 75, died at the Carlos III Hospital, where he was being treated, a spokeswoman confirmed.
As reported by MailOnline, a convoy of medics in protective suits escorted the missionary back to Spain last week after he was repatriated on a specially-adapted Airbus plane from Liberia in West Africa.
Spain’s Health Ministry said on Monday that it had obtained a course of the U.S.-made experimental drug ZMapp over the weekend to treat the priest.
The Madrid hospital would not confirm if he had been given the drug at the time of his death.
His body will be cremated tomorrow to avoid any further public health risks, the hospital added.
Mr Parajes had worked for the San Juan de Dios hospital order, a Spain-based Catholic humanitarian group, and had been helping to treat people with Ebola in Liberia.
He had worked as a missionary in Africa for nearly five decades and was due to return to Spain for good in September.
Speaking before he was flown back he said: ‘I’d like to return because we have a very bad experience of what’s happened here.
“We are abandoned. We want to go to Spain and be treated like people.”
The priest was brought back to Spain alongside a nun, who was also suspected of being infected with the virus.
However, she tested negative for the disease.
When the priest first arrived in Madrid, there were claims he was on a drip and was unable to walk unaided with his condition being described as stable.
It was said he wasn’t showing signs of bleeding, which is a symptom of an advanced stage of the illness.
The priest’s brother Emilio said he was ‘worried but happy’ about the transfer amid concerns within Spain that the nation’s hospitals may not successfully contain the illness.
His death comes as Turkey was put on alert over the virus after the country’s health ministry said a passenger from Nigeria was taken to hospital after arriving at Istanbul airport with a high fever.
The ministry said it did not know if the female passenger had Ebola but they were taking precautions.
The Turkish Airlines plane, which was supposed to travel on to Barcelona, was then disinfected.
Meanwhile it has been confirmed that Liberia is set to receive doses of the experimental drug to treat the condition, which will be given to two sick doctors.
The news comes after a the World Health Organisation declared it is ethical to use unproven Ebola drugs and vaccines in the current outbreak in West Africa provided the right conditions are met.
Its statement, however, sidestepped the key question of how to decide who should get the limited drugs.
“In the particular circumstances of this outbreak and provided certain conditions are met, the panel reached consensus that it is ethical to offer unproven interventions with as yet unknown efficacy and adverse effects, as potential treatment or prevention,” the agency said.
The doctors will become the first African patients to receive the drug.
The U.S. government had put Liberian officials in touch with the California-based maker of ZMapp, Mapp Biopharmaceutical.
The company said that in responding to a request from an unidentified West African country, it had ran out of its supply of the treatment.
...Scare grips Cameroon
The Ebola scare has gripped Cameroon following reports that cases of the disease were imported from neighbouring Nigeria.
Cameroon’s minister of health has refuted the allegations.
Rumors that cases of the deadly Ebola virus had been detected at the government referral hospital in Douala, Cameroon, spread quickly.
Marcel Fru, 17, said he learned from television news reports that two Nigerians  were taken from the Douala airport to a hospital after the virus was detected in them.
Nigerians throng into Cameroon on a daily basis for business, vacation and fear of the militant group Boko Haram. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says at least 10 cases of Ebola have been confirmed in Nigeria.
Some clergy and traditional rulers advised people to report any suspected cases of the disease.
But Minister of Health Andre Mama Fouda says the information about Nigerian Ebola victims in Cameroon is wrong.
“With regards to our country Cameroon, no suspected case has been reported until (this) date,” Mama Fouda said.
culled tribune

Osun: Political party offered us N14m bribe —DSS

SPOKESPERSON of the Department of State Services (DSS), Marilyn Ogar, on Tuesday, said one of the political parties is after the Service for turning down N14 million bribe offered its officials in Osun State, during the governorship election that took place on Saturday.

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Ogar, at the National Briefing Centre, while responding to questions from journalists, said, “the director in charge of election for the DSS was asked to come and collect N4 million for himself and N10 million for the men. Because he declined to receive the money, it is now an offence.
“The rejection is bringing up a lot of misunderstanding between political parties and the DSS. I want to tell you, there is a man occupying a very sensitive position in Osun, the man should thank God that it is not the DSS that arrested him with the huge sum of money he was found with.”
Emphasising that DSS could not be induced with money, Ogar said “we are well paid. I will say it categorically, our operations are well funded. The N14 million as against N200 million that was spent, which one will you go for? People should stop using money to entice security forces. The Federal Government and the people of Nigeria who have engaged us have the capability of taking care of us.”
According to her, if security forces were not fully on ground during the period of the election, the story about Osun State would have changed.
“We thank God that the All Progressives Congress (APC) won the election in Osun State. There was no bomb blast, because there was enough security presence on ground. The security forces that assisted in the election in Edo State were the same ones that went to Ondo, Anambra, Ekiti and Osun,” she said.
culled;tribune

Tambuwal in secret meeting with OBJ

.SPEAKER of the House of Representatives, Honourable Aminu Tambuwal, on Tuesday evening, held a closed-door meeting with former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, at his Abeokuta residence, Ogun State.

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The meeting, the Nigerian Tribune learnt, lasted for about 25 minutes and details were unknown to newsmen, who only sighted his convoy after he had left Obasanjo’s house.
When contacted, the media aide to the speaker, Imam Imam, said the meeting was just one of the consultations of the speaker with leaders in the country on how to move the nation forward.
He said Obasanjo is a father figure to all political office holders in the country, hence, the decision of his boss to rub minds with him on some national issues.
Imam said he could not confirm whether the rumoured presidential ambition of Tambuwal was discussed, insisting that the meeting was behind closed door.
“You know Baba is a father to all in the country. The meeting was a consultation. It is about rubbing minds on how to move the country forward and make it better,” he said.
culled;tribune

Another Nigerian dies of Ebola

A Nigerian and a staff member of the ECOWAS Commission’s Lagos Liaison Office, Jatto Asihu Abdulqudir, 36, died on Tuesday.
A statement by the ECOWAS Commission said Abdulqudir, a Protocol Assistant, was among those who assisted the Liberian delegate to a regional meeting, Patrick Sawyer, who died from the Ebola Virus Disease at a Lagos hospital on July 25, 2014.
Abdulqudir had been under quarantine following that sad incident.
His death bring to three the number of Ebola virus patients who have died in Nigeria.
The first two were Sawyer and one of the nurses who treated him.
The statement added: “The Commission wishes to use this opportunity to express its gratitude to Nigerian government authorities and others who contributed to managing the late official while under quarantine.
“The Management of the Commission wishes to commiserate with Mr. Abdulqudir’s family and colleagues and prays for the repose of his soul.
“Before this sad event, the Commission working in collaboration with Nigerian health authorities, had disinfected all the facilities of the ECOWAS Lagos Liaison Office as part of precautionary measures to safeguard the health, safety and security of staff members, and will continue to monitor the situation.
“Management has also intensified awareness campaign among staff on the deadly virus and uses this opportunity to invoke the spirit of solidarity and mutual assistance.
“The Commission wishes to reassure staff of all Community Institutions all over the entire region that it is taking all necessary steps to guarantee their health and safety.
“Furthermore, Management enjoins all staff members and community citizens in general to intensify the observance of personal hygiene. They should also report any suspected case to health facilities and seek medical advice or attention for the effective containment and defeat of the Ebola disease.
“On the directive of regional leaders, ECOWAS has already set up a Solidarity Fund to fight the disease and has solicited the support contribution of Member States and development partners to the Fund to rid the region of the virus.
“The ECOWAS Commission wishes to reiterate its continued commitment to support Member States in confronting this deadly virus.
adapted;tribune news paper