Need for cautious reporting of Ebola

Since the outbreak of Ebola disease in Liberia and Guinea and its import into Lagos by one Patrick Sawyer, a Liberian-American, the attention of the global community has largely focused on Nigeria. This is understandable because of the country’s large economy and population who hitherto had not experienced the disease commonly spread through contact with the fluids of infected person. Local and international media had since then concentrated on raising apprehension among the populace, instead of using more time and space to provide education for the citizens on curtailment of the disease.

 The created anxiety has given rise to cynical and all manner of curative solutions to Ebola disease which medical experts say has no known cure yet. Recently, rumours that drinking water-salt, bathing hot water mixed with salt, and eating bitter kola could prevent being infected with the disease went viral. This led to price increase of bitter kola in the open market and packaging and selling of anti-virus ‘Ebola Salt’ by smart people.

The panic may lead to stigmatisation of individuals who manifest similar symptoms of Ebola such as fever and vomiting which could prove to be malaria. Furthermore, there may be tendency for people to hide their headache and fever illness for fear of being tagged Ebola carriers. According to medical experts, the deadly Ebola virus is not contracted just by shaking anybody but by being in contact with the sick that manifests the symptoms. This, experts say include “fever, headache, joint and muscle aches, weakness, diarrhoea, vomiting, stomach pain and lack of appetite. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding. Bleeding can occur from the eyes, ears, nose, mouth and anus”.

 The panic has today led to shunning of the traditional warm greetings of shaking hands, not informed by increase in the awareness of hygiene but fear of contracting the disease said to have been detected in 1976 in the forests of Zaire, now Democratic Republic of Congo.

 In one of such creations of fear, an international media described Lagos as “a potentially ideal place for the deadly virus to spread – a vast, dirty, overcrowded city”.  It is not clear on the parameters the media used to consider Lagos as ‘overcrowded’. But even if Lagos accommodates about 17 million people considered large like Shanghai 24 million, Karachi 23 million and Istanbul 14 million people, it does not give the virus the vehicle to spread. Presently, the Nigerian government has put various measures in place to contain the disease. For instance, government is tracing those who had contact with Sawyer and other individuals who had contact with those who died of the disease for quarantine. It had also announced that schools will not reopen until the problem is under control.

 At this time, what Nigerians need is sensitisation and education on how to tackle the disease and avoid contracting it, not panic and sensational reporting. Such education had been successful in tackling HIV/AIDS disease. This is what we need now. Screaming headlines of number of cases of Ebola in Nigeria will not help its curtailment, instead it will raise panic which is not a solution.

 Nigeria is passing through momentous times especially the insecurity, heating up of the polity and managing the large size economy. We don’t need such unnecessary panic now, but constructive reporting of the deadly disease. We welcome the concern expressed, because Nigeria is in the eyes of the world, but media should not spread fears but educate the citizens on Ebola.