CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1  Background of the Study

In March 2014, the World Health Organization was notified of an outbreak of a communicable disease that had occurred before in 1979 and has reoccurred in 2014. Following the notification, WHO declared the epidemic to be an international public health emergency WHO (2014). Of all the human afflictions ever experienced, the greatest toll has been exacted by the deadly Ebola outbreak, BBC news (2014). The entire West African sub-region had been on alert following the outbreak of what has come to be known as the largest Ebola epidemic in history.

 The sojourn of ebola virus disease in Nigeria was accompanied by misinformation and fear of death that led to bizarre practices by the people in a hope of preventing the disease. The Nigerian news media reported the first case of Ebola virus disease in Nigeria on Thursday 25 July 2014. It was brought into the country by a Liberian American who flew from Liberia to Lagos on July 20, 2014. The man Patrick Sawyer became violently ill upon arriving at the airport and died five days later. People stopped shaking hands as a means of greeting in public gatherings involving large crowds such as Church conventions, revivals etc. The format for taking the Holy Communion in churches equally changed. People stopped sharing personal items such as towels, toothbrushes, cups, cutlery and hankies. Healthcare providers became reluctant or altogether stopped attending to patients with symptoms of fever and other suspected Ebola-like signs and symptoms. Some persons were going about permanently wearing hand gloves and face masks and they have stopped permanently anything that could possibly serve as a mode of transmission for the deadly virus. Hand washing with soap and water and the use of hand sanitizer became the rule and everyone went about carrying one. Some intimate activities seems to have reduced, the tendency to indulge in intimate conduct like hugging, kissing or sexual intercourse reduced significantly on the argument that the Ebola virus could be spread through bodily fluids including semen and sweats, saliva and other secretions.

 In addition to the above effect of the crises, the killing and consumption of suya, bush meat and other suspect delicacies reduced drastically and virtually stopped in some countries. Transportation of corpses across international borders required clearance by the FMOH, while carrying of corpses across state borders was restricted. Also, burial of corpses anywhere in the country required a mandatory death certificate. The date of resumption of schools from the long holidays was shifted twice, while a Nigerian football team was barred from participating in an international competition that took place in China WHO (2014). It was reported by Sunnewspaper, in its September 13, 2014 edition that an ugly message was sent across instructing people to bath and drink salt water as preventive measures of EVD.

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