In a leaked internal memo on Friday, the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, notified the hospital community of the outbreak of the virus, and called for caution.
Almost a month after the World Health Organisation confirmed an outbreak of Marburg virus in neighbouring Ghana, a Nigerian hospital has notified the hospital community ‘of an outbreak’ of the virus. Marburg is a highly infectious disease that is said to be in the same family as the virus that causes Ebola. In a leaked internal memo on Friday, the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, notified the hospital community of the outbreak of the virus and called for caution. The memo, which was signed by the Deputy Director in charge of the hospital’s information unit, Sani Suleiman, was addressed to the staff and heads of various departments in the health facility. Mr Suleiman confirmed the authenticity of the memo in a telephone interview with PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday but said there was no cause for alarm.
The memo, which was titled; “Outbreak of Marburg Disease and COVID-19 Infections,” reads in part; “The Management of University of Abuja Teaching Hospital wishes to notify the entire hospital community of an outbreak of Marbug (sic) disease and upsurge in COVID-19 infection. “Consequently, the attention of all Head of Departments and members of staff is hereby drawn to ensure adequate surveillance and hygiene by observing all protocols of prevention.” The memo also warned of increasing cases of coronavirus infections and advised the workers against letting down the guards. The development came after a preliminary finding of the cases from the Ashanti Region earlier in July by the country’s Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research. The results were reportedly sent to the Institut Pasteur in Dakar (IPD), Senegal, with support from the World Health Organisation (WHO) where they were confirmed to be the Marburg virus.
Source: This news is originally published by premiumtimesng