‘Ensure adequate surveillance’ — UniAbuja hospital cautions staff against ‘outbreak of Marburg virus’

The University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH) has cautioned its staff to take adequate measures against the “outbreak of Marburg virus” and upsurge in COVID-19 infections.

Over the weekend, a leaked memo from the hospital surfaced on the internet.

The memo, dated August 12, was signed by Sani Suleiman, the hospital’s deputy director of information.

“The management of University of Abuja Teaching Hospital wishes to notify the entire hospital community of an outbreak of Marburg disease and upsurge in COVID 19 infection,” the memo reads.

“Consequently, the attention of all heads of departments and members of staff is hereby drawn to ensure adequate surveillance and hygiene by observing all protocols of prevention.”

‘THE MEMO WAS MEANT FOR ONLY STAFF’

Speaking with TheCable on Sunday, Suleiman said the hospital released the memo to sensitise staff to be conscious of the development.

He added that the content was “misconstrued”.

“It is just an internal memo from the PR unit to HODs to sensitise members of staff to be conscious while handling patients who are likely to report to them,” he said.

“Unfortunately, the memo was misconstrued by one of the staff. That is not even the complete stuff, it was shared alongside precautionary measures.

“You know some people are still negligent of the COVID-19, and it is necessary for the hospital personnel to take precautionary measures to avoid further transmission. People should disregard it, and we are going to do a follow-up with correction.”

‘NIGERIA AT MODERATE RISK OF MARBURG’

Nigeria has not reported any case of Marburg case. In July, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said the country is at moderate risk of importing the virus.

Last month, Ghana, a neighbouring West African country, confirmed its first-ever outbreak of the Marburg virus disease.

Owing to the outbreak of the virus, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) announced two deaths while at least 98 contacts have been traced and quarantined.

The proximity of Ghana to Nigeria has raised concerns about the likelihood of importation of the virus to the country.

‘NO OUTBREAK OF MARBURG VIRUS IN NIGERIA’ 

In a tweet on Sunday, NCDC said there is no outbreak of the virus in the country, stressing the need for heightened surveillance diagnosis..

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There is currently NO outbreak of #MarburgVirusDisease in Nigeria.

However, measures such as heightened surveillance, diagnosis & rapid response teams are in place to prevent & mitigate an outbreak of the disease in-country.

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For more information:https://t.co/mRQDkAWAp6 pic.twitter.com/SBjIMmamDU

— NCDC (@NCDCgov) August 14, 2022