There was pandemonium in Orhionwon local government area of Edo state as a man was aid to have died from symptoms suspected to be those of the deadly Ebola virus.
The incident, which happened in Udo community of the state happened to a middle-aged man who had been ill suddenly died.
Whereas many people in the community said the man was epileptic died as a result of a seizure, there were any others who speculated that his death might have been as a result of the Ebola virus.
Thisday reports:
It was gathered that pandemonium broke out when some villagers who came to see the man while he was sick, observed blood in some parts of the body of the deceased, just as his mouth foamed. On witnessing this, the alarm was raised that he was a victim of the dreaded Ebola virus.
The suspicion prompted the villagers to cover their hands with cloth, as they could not lay hands on gloves, bundled the sick man into an empty bus and ordered the driver to take him to a hospital.
But the driver who was equally scared that he might be infected if actually the patient was suffering from the Ebola disease, refused to drive to the hospital and decided to evict the sick man from his bus.
Following the incident, the villagers were confused and a stalemate ensued, as the villagers did not know how to deal with the now abandoned sick man.
It was during the ensuing drama that the man gave up the ghost, forcing members of the community to flee their homes, fearing that danger was afoot.
A source in the community explained to THISDAY: “We are scared because we have been watching adverts on TV by the state Ministry of Information telling us to be vigilant of signs like blood and fever. And the man was shivering and we saw blood and foam from his mouth and that was why everybody ran away.”
It was however gathered that immediately the news broke, officials of the Ministry of Health in the state were dispatched to the community which is about an hour’s drive from Benin City, the state capital, to collect the blood samples from the deceased with a view to ascertaining the actual cause of death.
Efforts to contact the state Commissioner for Health, Dr. (Mrs.) Aihanuwa Eregie, proved abortive, but an official of the ministry who pleaded anonymity said they had been informed of the case, “so we immediately sent our officials to rush to the community to get the blood sample of the man whom they said is dead already.
“Though we heard he was an epileptic patient, we just want to be sure about the cause of death. His corpse has been isolated and we can only talk more when the result of the test is out.
“You remember that the state government had earlier come out to say we don’t have Ebola case in Edo, so if eventually we receive a report of any case we will definitely tell the world because it is a serious matter.”
Meanwhile, the state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Lious Odion, has urged the people of the state to remain vigilant and report any suspected case of infection with the Ebola virus.
