What next after Ebola?

Earlier this week, the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu announced the discharge and release of 4 survivors of the Ebola Virus disease; Nancy Writebol and Dr Kent Brantley, the American missionaries who contracted the disease in the line of humanitarian services were also given a free slate and allowed to go home to their families after several weeks of isolation. Several people have survived the disease, not just in this recent outbreak, but even from the times when the disease wasn't christened. Dr Thomas Cairns, also a missionary doctor in Guinea in 1972 got infected with an unknown illness and was miraculously cured. 4 years later, when there was an outbreak of a similar disease in the region, his blood was tested and was found to have several loads of antibodies against the Ebola virus. Apart from being survivors of Ebola, all these people have different stories. Most of them are health workers, but not all of them got the quality of care that Dr Kent and Mrs Writebol got. Not all of them got zMAPP, not all of them got symptomatic management. However, all of these identified victims ascribed their healing to God. Dr Kent said his recovery was proof that he served a God that answers prayers. The Nigerian survivors have been kept anonymous, but I am sure that their testimonies might not be different. With the increasing number of Ebola survivors, the Nigerian masses have to know some things about the disease, and here are some of it: A person with Ebola virus is only infectious when he has symptoms. Once the person has been declared cured ( this is done after two separate intensive blood tests have come out as negative), the person is not capable of transmitting the disease. However, the virus has been found in the breastmilk, semen and vaginal fluid of some survivors for about 7 weeks after being cured. So survivors are advised to avoid sex or use condoms for at least 3 months after discharge. Mothers have also been advised to wean their babies off breastmilk during this period. Dear Nigerians, I know our culture is big on stigmatization ( that explains why the names of the survivors have been withheld from the public), but please avoid it. Let's not discriminate against Ebola survivors. We do not know the long term complications of the disease, and these folks need our support to help them get back to life. If you know any survivor, hug them freely, shake them, don't run away. Princess Diana freely hugged people living with AIDS and this helped spread the war against discrimination ; let our celebrities do the same. And even as we pray to continually win this war against Ebola, remember to make your health a priority. Personal hygiene is cheap and is in vogue now. Even survivors can become re-infected. Science has not proven whether the antibodies they have developed against the virus are lifelong or transient. So, both survivors and non-infected people should still take their health seriously. I pray that soon, and very soon, the WHO will declare Nigeria, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and the whole world free of this present Epidemic; and I hope that the Nigerian government and Nigerians will pay more attention to Research. Who knows, maybe Bitter kola ( or salt water) indeed is the cure to this deadly virus?