There was palpable tension in Anambra State, Thursday, as the state government raises the alarm over suspected Ebola-infected corpse flown from Liberia to the state through Lagos.
This is coming as a research, led by Professor Maurice Iwu, head, the Bioresources Development and Conservation Programme, a plant, commonly eaten in West Africa, Garcinia kola has been found to halt the deadly Ebola virus in its tracks in laboratory tests.
The corpse was deposited at Apex Mortuary, Nkwelle Ezunaka, Oyi Local Government Area, at the weekend and over 50 persons who had contact with the corpse had been quarantined until epidemiologists from Federal Ministry of Health certifies them free.
Dr Josephat Akabuike, state commissioner for Health, disclosed that the corpse was flown into the state at the weekend, adding that the state had collected all the necessary preventive garments to protect the virus from spreading.
The state government, through the state Ministry of Health, immediately ordered for temporal closure of the hospital until the staff and patients, including the deceased family members, were screened by the epidemiology unit of the Federal Ministry of Health.
Dr Akabuike said that “We had a report that a corpse was brought into the state through Lagos and the deceased was said to be taken from Liberia, where there is a several reported cases of Ebola virus disease.”
The commissioner also informed that the state government had instituted a rapid response team, saddled with the responsibility of responding to emergencies, revealing that the state governor, Chief Willie Obiano,had ordered for the acquisition of 400 personal protective equipment to protect the health workers in the state.
He urged all residents to call the following emergency numbers, 08030890440 or 08030864502 anytime there was a suspected case of Ebola disease in their area.
But Professor Iwu, head, the Bioresources Development and Conservation Programme, a plant, commonly eaten in West Africa, said that Garcinia kola has been found to halt the deadly Ebola virus in its tracks in laboratory tests.
If repeated in humans, this would give the body a chance to fight off the virus.
They used a compound from Garcinia kola, a plant. Compounds from the plant have also proved effective against some strains of flu.
If the anti-Ebola compound proves successful in animal and human trials, it will be the first medicine to successfully treat the virus that causes Ebola haemorrhagic fever, an often-fatal condition.
The discovery was announced at the 16th International Botanical Congress in St Louis in the United States of America in 1999.
The Ebola virus was first documented in 1976 after an outbreak in Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where 88 per cent of the 318 human cases died.
More recently, a 1995 outbreak in the same country had a death rate of 81% of the 315 infected.
There are four types of the virus; they include Ebola-Zaire, Ebola-Sudan and Ebola-Ivory Coast, which affect humans and Ebola-Reston, which has so far only affected monkeys and chimpanzees.
“This is a very exciting discovery, the same forest that yields the dreaded Ebola virus could be a source of the cure.” said Professor Iwu.
The virus multiplies rapidly in the human body and quickly overwhelms it, and in advanced cases the patient develops high fever and severe bleeding.
The active compound in the Garcinia kola is what is known as a dimeric flavonoid, which is two flavonoid molecules fused together.
Flavonoids are non-toxic and can be found in orange and lemon rinds as well as the colourings of other plants.
The tests are in the early stages still, but the researchers hope that if they continue to prove successful the compound the US Food and Drug Administration will put it on a fast track, making a drug available to humans within a matter of years.
“The discovery of these important properties in a simple compound; flavonoids, was very surprising,” said Dr Iwu.
“The structure of this compound lends itself to modification, so it provides a template for future work.
“Even if this particular drug does not succeed through the whole drug approval process, we can use it to construct a new drug for this deadly disease,” he added.