By HAROON BALOGUN

Dr. Gani Enahoro is Naib Amir south Eastern zone; the Vice President, African Veterinary Association, AVA and Immediate Past National President, Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association, NVMA.

He spoke on the ways of containing the virus and what the African Veterinary Association is doing to assist governments in the region on the deadly ebola virus. Excerpts.

About the disease

The only cause of Ebola Virus Haemorrhagic Fever in Man and non-Human Primates is the virus itself, Ebola Virus.

Now we have various strains such as Zaire Ebola Virus, (ZEBOV) and Sudan ebolavirus (SEBOV), as well as Bundibugyo Ebola Virus, depending on the geographical location where they have been properly identified.

These Ebola viruses have at various times in the past caused epidemics among humans in Africa with case fatality rates ranging from 25% to 90%.

It is important to answer your question directly by stating that “animals don’t ‘cause’ Ebola virus”.

Viruses are sub-microscopic pathogens that are capable of causing specific diseases traced to them and there are so many currently known virulent viruses in the scientific world today and there are others that would in future be characterized and identified.

In other words, Ebola viruses don’t live in the animals that would also fall sick and die when they contract it, such as Monkeys, Chimpanzees and Apes that are commonly described as non-human primates.

However, in previous researches, Fruit bats were the only animal species that got injected with the Ebola virus and did not come down with the disease, hence they have been classified as carriers of the virus.

They have the potential to retain Ebola viruses within them and continually shed the viruses in their secretions of saliva, faces, urine and other body fluids like blood.

The fruit bats are therefore potential sources of Ebola Virus Haemorrhagic Fever in Man and non-human primates in the wild.

Animals as pets

Animals that are already owned in controlled zoo captivity or domesticated as pets at homes are safe and have no fears of Ebola Virus Haemorrhagic Fever. Like in humans, once a monkey is infected by the virus, the monkey would fall ill and die.

The virus can also be transmitted from an infected human to his animal pet through contact with his body fluids. This is referred to as zoonosis. However, owners of such pets, at a time like this, could visit their Veterinarians for routine checks and necessary medications as normally required.

Eating bush meat

People should be careful in their use of bush meat as food or a premix with local herbs in the various concoctions hawked about as traditional medicine.

It is true that viruses don’t survive intense heat such as in our native ways of cooking food in Africa, but there are processes in the kitchen that permits unavoidable contact between human and animal body fluids, excreta, urine and blood that may be unsafe, and which could be a direct source of Ebola virus infection, if the animal had previously died of the virus.

Strict hygiene must be the watchword always. Let us wash our hands very frequently in running waters mainly.

Containing the virus

It is noteworthy, for instance that drugs and human vaccines must scientifically go through animal trials before they are licensed for use in humans. Only Veterinarians can certify the suitability and safety of the drugs when used in the animals before human trials would commence.

There is a lot of cooperation and collaboration in the Medical world that should lead to the common good of all of us, when effectively deployed. As for direct use of hyper immured serum & vaccines and certain drugs against Ebola virus, a lot of successful animal trials were concluded long before the current outbreak in Guinea which has spread through Liberia, Sierra Leone, and now into Nigeria.

These trial candidates were waiting for various human trials before their approval for use in humans. Now is the time to conclude the human trials, which the Americans seem to be doing with ZMAPP.

The Scientific world should fast track the usual protocols associated with relevant approvals and save humanity from avoidable deaths when these animal tested drugs and vaccines are not allowed for human use soon.