Ebola: Anambra community bans display of corpses

The people of Ifitedunu community in Dunukofia LGA of Anambra have banned the public display and keeping of corpses in mortuaries beyond a day.

The Eze-Dunu of Ifitedunu, Igwe Chukwuemeka Ilouno, told NAN on Tuesday in Ifitedunu near Onitsha, Anambra, that the ban was part of efforts by the community to ward off the Ebola virus.

Ilouno, who is also a medical practitioner with more than 34 years’ experience, said that the decision to introduce the ban came after an emergency meeting of the community organised to sensitise its members to the dangers of the virus.

“In my community, I called out the members at 6 a.m. last week Tuesday and told them a lot about Ebola Virus disease.

“And I and my PG and our community leaders decided to set about new laws, laws that once somebody is brought as a corpse from outside this town, that that person should be buried immediately without allowing much contact with people.

“We also have banned people going to keep corpses for too long; don’t put a corpse in the mortuary because in the morgue you might discover that that corpse might be placed side by side with another corpse, which you do not know what killed and by the time you bring it out, it might be one that is infected and that infection can spread to other people.

“And we have also placed a ban on people allowing corpse to be displayed; we are encouraging people to bury a corpse within 24 hours.

“We encouraging people to discourage too much contact with corpse. When a person dies, let the people that go to see the corpse or go close to the corpse be very few. It used to be like that before.

“We are encouraging our people to stop shaking of hands; we are encouraging our people to learn the art of washing their hands with soap and water each time they shake somebody.

“We are encouraging our people to stop embracing people anyhow.

“We are encouraging our people to ensure that each time they are going out, they carry either a sachet of pure water and soap or a sanitizer.”

Ilouno, however, urged mothers to monitor the health of their children and wards in order to give them prompt medical attention in the nearest health facility.

NAN reports that Ebola virus scare had continued to grow following the reported incident of the disease in Lagos State as well as some West Africa countries.