The Nigerian Olympic Contingent was on Thursday given a clean sheet by the federal government to go ahead with plans to attend the 2016 Olympic Games taking place in Brazil, a country currently faced with the scourge of Zika virus.
Prof. Isaac Adewole, the Minister of Health, however, disclosed to journalists at a press conference in Abuja that there are substantial grounds to stop the Nigerian Olympic team.
According to him, “Should we discourage Nigerian contingent from going there? The answer is no as there is no sufficient grounds to discourage them.
“But I will discourage pregnant women from going to that region. Otherwise, all you have to do is to protect yourself. Zika virus is now in United Kingdom. The real challenge is to be on alert.”
As Nigeria was fighting to stop the spread of Lassa fever in the country, another health emergency of international health concern broke out in the South American country and has been spreading very fast.
It would be recalled that in the late 2014, Brazil detected a cluster of febrile rash illness related to Zika virus in its North-eastern region (Bahia) that was subsequently associated with the Zika virus in April 2015. The outbreak spread widely to other parts of Brazil and other countries and by February 2016, Zika viral transmission has been documented in 44 countries and territories already.
As of today, Brazil and Columbia have been the most affected with an estimated cases ranging between 600,000 and 1,700,000.”
The Minister noted that: “Although two African countries have reported Zika infection in the recent outbreak and in the past, many others, causal relationship between Zika virus infection, birth defects and neurological syndromes have not been established in this continent”.
It is worthy of note that as of now, there is no known specific treatment for Zika virus disease. Treatment is, therefore, generally supportive and it includes rest, fluids, and use of pain killers and antipyretics.
Despite the fact that some Nigerians are immune to the Zika virus infection as demonstrated by previous studies, Adewole urged pregnant women not visit the affected countries for now.
He said, “I advise all Nigerians, particularly pregnant women to avoid travelling to countries infected by this virus in these periods. If however, you are to visit any country where Zika virus is now being actively transmitted, you are advised to protect yourselves from mosquito bites.”
“All state governments are hereby advised to immediately embark on health education campaigns to empower communities to take action and protect themselves from Zika virus as well as other mosquito-borne diseases.
“I have instructed the Port Health Services of my ministry to immediately adjust and include points of entry screening to capture anti-Zika activities. He called on the public to maintain good individual and community hygiene to discourage creation of mosquito breeding grounds near homes and nearby surrounding. All states are called upon to commence anti-mosquito campaign including engaging the services of sanitary inspectors with their appropriate deployment.”
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