IPNews-Monrovia: The Ministry of Health (MoH), through the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL), says there is no fear for the incursion of the devastating coronavirus into Liberia.
The National Public Health Institute at a joint Ministry of Health press update briefing to reporters that it is intensifying its surveillance system amid the death of six persons of pneumonia caused by a new coronavirus in China.
There remains fear among Liberians about the importation of the virus from China due to the high influx of Liberians trooping into the Chinese market both at home and those travelling to main land China.
The Director-General of NPHIL, Dr. Mosoka Fallah, told journalists that on 31 December 2019, a cluster of pneumonia of unknown etiology (cause) was reported in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China.
It may be recalled, on January 7, 2019 the strain of a novel coronavirus was identified as the causative virus by Chinese authorities on 7 January.
Dr. Fallah said while the cause of pneumonia seems to be a novel coronavirus, transmission potential and modes of transmission remain unclear. Therefore, he noted, “It would be prudent to reduce the general risk of acute respiratory infections while traveling in or from affected areas.”
The Liberian scientist indicated that the MoH through the NPHIL will be strict about health screenings of airplane passengers arriving from Wuhan at the Roberts International Airport (RIA).
He noted that based on available information, the World Health Organization (WHO) does not recommend any restriction of travel or trade to and from China. “Meanwhile, Liberia will continue to strengthen preparedness for health emergencies in line with the International Health Regulations (2005) at the airports,” said Fallah.
“There is no specific treatment for disease caused by the novel coronavirus yet. However, supportive care for infected persons can be highly effective.” Dr. Fallah said.
The Public Health specialist disclosed that current statistics and reports, as of 21 January 2020, have unveiled a total of 314 confirmed cases for novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) including six deaths that were also reported to WHO globally from China.
He clarified that of the 314 cases reported, 309 cases were reported from China, two from Thailand, one from Japan and one from the Republic of South Korea; stressing that cases in Thailand, Japan, and South Korea were exported from Wuhan City, China; and of the 309 confirmed cases in China, 270 cases were confirmed from Wuhan; the 270 cases he said, 51 cases are severely ill and 12 are in critical conditions.
Dr Fallah also added that the United States has confirmed its first case arriving from Wuhan, China. He said many of the initial cases were thought to have contacted the virus through animal-to-human transmission as it has been established.
“The Global surveillance is being established and it is expected that more cases will be reported over the next weeks,” he quoted the reports.
Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people. Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, and cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, an infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure, and even death.
Wuhan city is a major transport hub in China. Given the heavy population movements, cases are expected to significantly increase during the Chinese New Year in the last week of January. The risk of cases being reported from elsewhere is increased.
Meanwhile, Dr. Fallah said that the NPHIL is currently coordinating with partners to continuously assess and manage the risk of importation.
“The port health services have been placed on the alert and have heightened screening measures at the point of entry and other public health measures for self-protection,” he noted.
However, the authority at NPHIL has urged citizens to avoid close contact with people suffering from acute respiratory infections. It has further cautioned citizens to frequent hand-washing, especially after direct contact with ill people or their environment.
NPHIL also stressed the need to avoid close contact with live or dead farm or wild animals; adding that travelers with symptoms of acute respiratory infection should practice cough etiquette by maintaining distance, cover coughs and sneezes with disposable tissues or clothing, and wash hands.
Wuhan is a major manufacturing city in China with a heavy focus on automobile and medical equipment. As a major transportation hub, Wuhan is one of the stops on two of the main long-distance high-speed railway lines: Beijing-Guangzhou (from north to south) and Shanghai-Chengdu high-speed railway (from east to west). According to information on Flightconnections.com, Wuhan Airport services non-stop scheduled passenger flights to 109 destinations in 20 countries.
A history of travel to or from a person who lived in Wuhan, Hubei Province China in the last 14 days before symptom onset; The public is advised to remain calm. Travelers from Liberia to Wuhan, Guangdong, Beijing, and Shanghai are advised to avoid contact with sick people, animals (alive or dead), and animal markets. Travelers from China to Liberia may be asked questions upon arrival by the port health officers at the points of entry.
Dr. Fallah who earlier assured citizens of NPHIL’s commitment, however, said its partners are fully committed as well as strengthening the preparedness and response to infectious disease outbreak in the country. “Information will be shared with the public as it becomes available,” he declared.
In a related development, the Chief Medical & Scientific Officer of Molecular Pathogen Diagnostics Shufflex Biomed, Dr. Dougbeh Chris Nyan, quoting the Minister of National Health Commission of China, Li Bin, said that the virus has now killed 9 people and infected 440 people across mainland China.
In a letter to Dr. Fallah dated January 21, 2020, Dr Nyan said the World Health Organization (WHO) has also reported that the virus has reached 5 countries, including the United States where the first confirmed case was announced on January 21, 2020. “I suggest an immediate proactive approach aimed at erecting requisite preventive measures,” DR. Nyan said in his communication to NPHIL.
Dr. Dougbeh Chris Nyan alerted the Liberian and other African governments of a potential public health threat due to the outbreak of a new virus infection in China that is now spreading around the world.
In a communication to the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL) dated January 21, 2020, Dr. Nyan informed the public health institutes about “an outbreak of a Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the People’s Republic of China that has now killed 9 people and infected 440 people across mainland China.”
He advised the Ministry of Health and the National Public Health Institutes of Liberia (NPHIL) to urgently “put in place preventive measures so as to arrest the spread of the virus which is emanating from China” and is rapidly spreading to other countries around the world.
The communication further stated that, “the virus has reached 5 countries, including the United States where the first confirmed case was announced on January 21, 2020 by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). There are now 447 confirmed cases worldwide.”
According to Dr. Nyan, “public health systems are still investigating to learn more about how this new virus spreads and the disease it causes,” mentioning further that the, “initial findings suggest an animal-to-person transmission and a limited person-to-person spread through air droplets.”
“Infected patients present with classical influenza-symptoms (including fever, cough, and some breathing-difficulties) and a mild to severe pulmonary illness such as pneumonia that has resulted in 9 deaths in China to date,” he added.
He noted that, “over the last two decades, China’s economic cooperation with African countries have seen an influx of travelers from China,” adding that, “infectious diseases travel as people travel. Hence, in view of the weak medical system in Liberia and other African countries, I proposed an immediate proactive approach aimed at erecting requisite preventive measures,” which include:
- Insisting on travelers from China present a health certificate ruling out infection with the Wuhan coronavirus(2021-nCov);
2. Declaration of a cautious “Travel Warning to China” by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in consultation with the Ministry of Health for citizens wishing to travel to said destination;
3. Travelers from other countries, particularly those who transit through China be questioned on their health travel history as well as their human and animal contacts;
4. Immediately conducting training workshops for the entry ports and immigration border personnel to equip them with said preventive questionnaire and ability to recognize cases of travelers as well as recognize eminent health danger;
5. At best, establishing a nursing medical unit and diagnostic post at major ports of entry (e.g. the Roberts International Airport and National Port Authority, in the case of Liberia)
6. A clear pedagogic public health education exercise so as to educate the public about the virus, its transmission, health consequences, and applicable public health prevention methods.
7. Drawing lessons from the fight against the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa and measures put in place in its ongoing outbreak in the DRC Congo;
He noted that, “in many developing countries (in Liberia, for example), healthcare systems remain weak and inadequate to handle mass outbreak of infectious diseases in our already vulnerable and impoverished populations. Dr. Nyan said, “I stand ready to participate and voluntarily make any subsequent contribution at no cost in case the country needs my services.”
Dougbeh Nyan, a Liberian medical doctor, is the world renowned scientist who inventing the multiplex diagnostic test for infectious diseases (called, the Nyan-Test). The Nyan-Test detects and simultaneously identifies several inventions including, Ebola, Malaria, HIV, Influenza, Hepatitis viruses a whole lot of other infections. In 2018, he was awarded a United States patient for his invention. Dr. recently conducted infectious disease diagnostic workshop at the National Public Health Institutes in Liberia and lectures at various universities in Liberia and around the world.
Also a social activists, Dr. Nyan advocates for press and academic freedom, women’s rights, social economic justice, good governance, and against corruption. He serves as an executive of the National Democratic Coalition of Liberia, the NDC, which is a coalition of social democratic parties.
