By Tom Moses

UYO—Determined to check the spread of the Ebola virus disease to Akwa Ibom State, the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, UUTH, has created isolated wards to handle suspected cases.

The Chief Medical Director, CMD, of UUTH, Professor Etete Peters, has, meanwhile called for an urgent awareness campaign in all the local government areas of the state for people to be aware of the dangers of the disease.

He warned health workers to embrace the universal protection practice of treating patients irrespective of the nature of their sicknesses, so as not to fall victim to the dreaded Ebola virus.

Enlightenment
Peters, who spoke to Vanguard yesterday in Uyo, said since cases of Ebola had been reported in some West African countries, there was need for everyone to be extra vigilant to prevent the spread of the virus because of its highly contagious nature.

Sensitisation campaign, he said, should be carried out to complement other measures already put in place by both the Federal and state governments to keep people abreast of the dangers posed by the virus and how to prevent same from spreading.

He informed that UUTH had set in motion a preparedness team to handle any eventuality arising from an unexpected spread of the disease through the establishment of isolated wards in the hospital, in the case of an emergency.

Symptoms
Peters, who said that Ebola could kill victims within days, causing severe fever and muscle pains, vomiting, diarrhoea and in some cases, organs failure and unstoppable bleeding advised people to avoid eating local bush meats they had been confirmed to be the primary sources of the killer disease.
He advised people to be vigilant and to report any suspicious case to the nearest health facility.