UN Chief: Avoid Ebola Panic And Fear

New York - Urging governments to avoid panic
and fear, UN chief Ban Ki-moon announced plans
on Tuesday to step up the global response to the
Ebola outbreak and bring it under control.
Ban appointed British physician David Nabarro to
be the UN coordinator for Ebola, tasked with
overseeing the world body's strategy as the
death toll from the outbreak topped 1 000.
"We need to avoid panic and fear. Ebola can be
prevented," Ban told reporters at UN
headquarters in New York.
"With resources, knowledge, early action and will,
people can survive the disease.
"Ebola has been successfully brought under
control elsewhere and we can do it here too."
Also Read: ZMapp Ebola drug stock finished
The epidemic that began in Guinea, and spread to
Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, has been
described as the worst since Ebola was first
discovered four decades ago.
It has killed 1 013 people, including a Spanish
priest who on Tuesday became the first European
to succumb to the outbreak that began earlier this
year. An American woman infected in Liberia is
recovering in a US hospital.
"In the days ahead, the UN system will further
strengthen the way we are dealing with the
outbreak," the UN secretary-general said.
Also Read: ECOWAS official dies from Ebola in
Nigeria
He cited the urgent need to address the shortage
of doctors, nurses and equipment, including
protective clothing and isolation tents, especially
in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
"We need all hands on deck," said Ban.
The World Health Organisation has authorised the
use of experimental drugs to fight Ebola including
a serum used to treat Spanish priest Miguel
Pajares, who died in a Madrid hospital on Tuesday
after contracting the disease in Liberia.

Rwanda Patient Tests Negative Of EBOLA Virus.

Kigali - Rwanda said on Tuesday that a German
man put in isolation with fever had tested
negative for the deadly tropical disease Ebola.
"We would like to inform you that the suspected
case of Ebola tested negative", the ministry of
health said in a statement.
"There's no Ebola in Rwanda."
A German student with Ebola-like symptoms was
placed in isolation late Sunday while blood tests
were carried out.
Minister of health Agnes Binagwaho said the
patient was a medical student who had recently
spent time in Liberia, one of four West African
countries where the virus has been spreading.
The other nations are Guinea, Sierre Leone and
Nigeria.
Like other nations across east Africa, Rwanda
says it has put in place measures against the
deadly virus.
The Ebola virus has killed 1 013 people, according
to the latest data from the World Health
Organisation which calls it a global health emergency.

FLAVOUR N’abania now Onga ambassador.

NIGERIAN Highlife crooner, Flavour N’abania, who
recently returned from a musical tour of South
Africa, has been named the face of popular
seasoning, Onga, in a deal said to worth some
millions of naira. Until now, top Nollywood actress,
Kate Henshaw, had been the only known celebrity
who is the face of Onga. Flavour, as ...
The post FLAVOUR N’abania now Onga ambassador
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Press Statement Of Ebola Virus

Nigeria has now recorded seven (7) confirmed
cases of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). The first
one was the index case-the imported case
from Liberia of which the victim is now late.
Yesterday, 5th August, 2014, the first known
Nigerian to die of the EVD was recorded and
this was one of the nurses that attended to the
Liberian. The other five cases are currently
being treated at the Isolation ward in Lagos.
It is pertinent to note that: i. All the Nigerians
diagnosed of the EVD were primary contacts of
the index case. ii. The 24/7 Emergency
Operations Centre which I intimated you of in
my last press
conference will be fully functional by tomorrow.
It will be headed by Dr. Faisal Shuaibu as the
Incident Manager. He will later today lead a 6-
man inter-agency team drawn from National
Primary Health Care
Development Agency (NPHCDA), the US CDC,
the WHO, UNICEF and the Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation to Lagos to complete the
setting up of the Centre. They will be joined by
the other personnel from the Lagos State
Government and the federal hospitals in the
Lagos area as well as the Nigeria Centre for
Disease Control.
I have also appointed a Director of
Communication and Community Mobilization
who will be based in Lagos- Prof. O. Onajole of
the Lagos University Teaching Hospital. We
are embarking on recruiting additional health
personnel to strengthen the team who are
currently managing the situation in Lagos.
We are making arrangements to procure
Isolation tents to quicken the pace of providing
isolation wards in all the states of the
federation and the Federal Capital Territory.
We are also setting up a special team to
provide counseling and psychosocial support
to patients, identified contacts and their
families.

Ebola, now a matter of national emergency, Federal Government declares

The Federal government has declared the Ebola
outbreak in Nigeria a matter of national
Emergency, adding that everyone is now at risk of
being infected.
Speaking with State House correspondence at the
end of today's Federal Executive Council meeting,
the Minister of Health, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu
said the Nigerian government has written to the
Director of the United State Centre for Disease
Control to request for the release of some of the
unapproved ZMAG drug which has proven to be
useful in the treatment of the Ebola disease. He
said the Federal government awaits a response
from the United state government and hopeful if
the drugs are released, they could be used to treat
the confirmed cases of the Ebola virus disease in
Nigeria. Continue...
The Minister advised Nigerians to avoid handshake
as much as possible, stating that the virus is both
contagious and infectious. He also said the virus
could also be contacted through the sharing of
bedspreads, pillow cases and towels among other
personal effects with infected person. He said the
disease is not airborne but at close range of a
1meter from an infected person, the disease
droplets can be transmitted.
The Minister also revealed that Isolation tent for
each confirmed case cost the government as
much as N20million. As regards the corpse of a
Nigerian brought in from Liberia last week into
Anambra state which caused Ebola scare in the
state, the Minister said thorough examination on
the corpse showed the man did not die of the
deadly disease.
As part of strategies to rise to the national
emergency, Chukwu said a website,
www.ebolaalert.org , has been designed to offer
information on the virus.

VAN GAL SAYING HE ONLY WANTS STROOTSMAN

The Red Devils boss is desperate to re-unite with
his Dutch compatriot rather than sign a weaker
midfielder in the summer transfer window, and
would happily wait until January
EXCLUSIVE
By Greg Stobart
Louis van Gaal has told Manchester United that
he is prepared to wait until January to sign Kevin
Strootman rather than bring in a weaker central
midfielder this summer.
The United manager is a huge fan of Strootman
and the club will monitor the Roma midfielder’s
recovery from a serious knee injury with a view to
trying to sign him in the new year.
Van Gaal has described the United squad as 'not
balanced' and the Dutchman wants to sign a box-
to-box central midfielder to bolster his side - but
he is happy to wait to land a top-class target.
Arturo Vidal has been constantly linked with a
move to Old Trafford, but while Van Gaal has
declared his admiration for the Juventus star, club
officials have been keen to play down any
prospect of signing him this summer.
Interest in Germany international Toni Kroos
earlier in the summer cooled before he joined Real
Madrid from Bayern Munich, while concerted
interest in Real midfielder Angel Di Maria looks
like coming to nothing with the Argentine likely to
join Paris Saint-Germain if he leaves the Spanish
capital.
The complete midfielder? | Stootman's 2013-14
Serie A stats
William Carvalho of Sporting Lisbon and Everton's
James McCarthy have also been considered by
Old Trafford officials, while Netherlands
international Memphis Depay could prove a target
next summer - but not this.
However, Van Gaal is adamant that the club need
not panic buy, and is more than happy to work
with his current midfield options come the start of
the new Premier League season - with a view to
making a move for Strootman in January.
That means the likes of Tom Cleverley look set to
initially be given a far bigger role to play at Old
Trafford than many may have expected. The
former Wigan Athletic loanee, something of a
scapegoat during the David Moyes era, has been
given the captain's armband in pre-season and is
one of a few of the club's fringe stars with a
point to prove in 2014-15.
Van Gaal worked closely with Strootman, 24, in
his previous role as Netherlands coach and
believes his compatriot is perfectly suited to the
Premier League and the style he wants to
implement at Old Trafford.
Ed Woodward, United’s executive vice-chairman,
is eager to provide Van Gaal with additions in the
transfer market and has claimed the club are
financially strong enough to break the world
transfer record.
But Van Gaal is understood to have told
Woodward to focus his attention on signing a
central defender - Mats Hummels would be his
dream signing, though a move for Arsenal's
Thomas Vermaelen is eminently more realistic at
this stage - rather than chase high profile
attacking players.
United started the summer with a €190 million
budget and have spent almost €76m so far to
bring Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera to Old
Trafford.

10 Year Old Girl Found With Explosives.

A 10 year old girl strapped with an explosive belt
was yesterday July 29th discovered by security
forces in company of two other people, a man and
an 18 year old girl, while traveling along a road in
Katsina state.
The DG of the National Information Center, Mr
Mike Omeri said this while briefing news men at
the National Information Center;
"Security forces on Tuesday, July 29, at
about 10pm along Zaria Road, Tudun Wada
of Funtua Metropolis, arrested three
suspects believed to be members of the
Boko Haram sect. The three suspects
consisted a male named Iliya Haliru, and two
females – Zainab Musa, 18, and Hadiza
Musa, 10. The three suspects were arrested
in a Honda CRV. When they were directed to
disembark for security check, 10-year-old
Hadiza was discovered to have been
strapped with an explosive belt. And
immediately, Iliya and Zainab made attempt
to escape with the car but were later blocked
by other concerned Nigerians and
subsequently arrested. The police
successfully unstrapped the explosive.”
He appealed to parents to monitor their wards so
they do not get initiated into such evil acts.