Ebola took ‘everything’ from me, says survivor

Chinyere Enemuo, an Ebola survivor and younger sister of the late Dr. Iyke Sam Enemuo, has described the stigma that she and her family are experiencing as a result of their Ebola travails as “just too much”.

Dr. Enemuo is the Port Harcourt doctor who died after treating the Ebola-positive ECOWAS official that jumped surveillance in Lagos

Speaking on the occasion of the declaration of Nigeria as Ebola virus free by the World Health Organisation in Abuja on Monday, Miss Enemuo (pictured with Onyebuchi Chukwu, the former minister of health) said that her surname, “Enemuo” had become synonymous with Ebola, causing her family ostracisation.

Although she described the effects of the disease on her and her family as grave, saying life had become more difficult even after surviving the disease, she praised the government for taking good care of her while in isolation.

“The whole incident is not a pleasing one. It is traumatic. We are highly stigmatised, maybe owing to how the information about Ebola is managed. Once you bear our surname, people are scared of you and avoid you,” Enemuo said.

“Some members of the family were expelled from work while some were suspended. Even my younger brother was given warning not to leave school for Port Harcourt or they would expel him.

“The Ebola thing affected my family badly. I was planning my wedding, which was supposed to be on September 27, but everything was later disorganised. We lost the things we had booked; we lost everything. We had to start again to plan the wedding.

“The Ebola thing destroyed a lot of things for us. So If there is anything the government can do to help us out, especially regarding the stigma we face, we will appreciate it.”

Responding to Enemuo’s appeal, Abdusalam Nasidi, the director of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control announced that the ministry of health and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control would make contributions to her wedding.

The World Health Organisation declared Nigeria Ebola free on Monday, with Onyebuchi Chukwu, the outgoing minister of health, attributing the successful containment of the viral disease to leadership and effective coordination of the collaborating partners.