Jos hospital prepares for possible Ebola cases
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Leadership
Jos University Teaching Hospital in Nigeria has put its staff on alert and has an equipped isolation centre for PCR testing for Ebola. Its medical director, Pokop Wushipba Bupwatda, says specialists are mobilised to detect and manage possible cases, according to Leadership.
Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), in Nigeria’s Plateau State, says it is ready to handle possible Ebola cases, its medical director, Dr Pokop Wushipba Bupwatda, told Leadership Sunday. He said there was no reason for alarm after the disease appeared in Nigeria.
The facility has an infection control and prevention committee, created before the current episode, as well as three consultants and an isolation centre equipped with a molecular laboratory. PCR tests can be carried out there, while staff have been trained and placed on alert to quickly detect a possible infection, according to Dr Bupwatda.
The Jos arrangements come after Nigeria confirmed an isolated case in a female traveller on 23 October. Nigerian medical authorities had earlier called on Kwara State to strengthen prevention on 23 October, while the origin of the infection remained unknown on 22 October, according to articles previously published by Leadership.
