“Can the circulation of bank notes transmit ebola?” was one of the pertinent questions posed to the Vice Chancellor of the University of Buea, Prof Nalova Lyonga and a battery of scientists at Idenau, on Wednesday, September 3 by the concerned population of this town which is one of the border towns with Nigeria.
Prof Nalova Lyonga and her scientists were at Idenau at the end of an anti-Ebola campaign that had taken her through Buea, Limbe Tiko and, then Idenau in the last two weeks.
The above question was posed by the population as they became bothered by the fact that one of the core messages of the campaign was the call for people to, desist from the habit of shaking hands, giving hugs, kisses and all other forms of body contacts with persons as a measure to cut off one’s chances of catching the disease.
The scientists further explained that research has shown that the virus is easily transmitted through hand shakes with affected persons or the touching of affected persons or their personal belongings such as clothes that might have come in contact with their fluids ; sweat, spit, sneeze and faeces which can lead one to contracting the virus.
Given that bank notes in circulation change hands, a participant asked if the virus could not also be transmited through this means.
The VC and her scientists allay the fears of the population by stating that, the Ebola virus tends to be very fragile and since bank notes are usually exposed to the weather and, probably heat, the probability of transmission might be very slim. They added that research has shown that the virus easily dies under heat conditions and thrives but in the human cell and not probably on ‘bank notes.”
Besides, the population was also advised that the best way out was to adhere to the basic tenets of keeping hygiene which consists ; washing of the hands, desisting from eating bush meat and most especially for hunters to call a halt to their activities.
This campaign outing was an unprecedented out-of-the-classroom exercise. The VC said she would have loved to have talks with teachers as the school year resumes on Monday, September 8, since all teachers need to learn about the virus and how it can be prevented. She said they need to school their pupils and students on the ‘keep-safe-from Ebola measures’ so that our schools should be alert as to what can be done in the event of an outbreak.
The Campaign was powered by a solid team of scientists from UB’s Science Department: Prof Eric Achidi, Prof. Gideon Ngwa, Dr Lucy Ndip, Dr Julius Atashili and Dr Peter Nde Fon.
This was the first time that such a huge number of scientists from a Cameroon University had to move from their usual routine of lab room activities, plus giving lectures in classes within the University milieu, to town halls in the communities around Fako Division where they have been schooling the population on staying off from contracting the Ebola virus.
Latest figures show that some 1,900 persons have already died from the virus out of over 3,069 suspected or infected cases in Sierra-Leone, Liberia, Guinea, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Senegal.
In addition, the World Health Organization, WHO, predicted, over a week ago that the virus could end up affecting more than 20,000 people and spread to even more countries before it is finally checked as there are yet no really acceptable drugs for a cure. The mass production of trial drugs for treatment of the disease is still being talked about and might not be available that soon.
It is because of this dire situation, relating to the dangerous and rapid spread of the disease in the past five months in the above named-countries and the absence of a cure or vaccine against the virus, that UB’s VC said she and her scientists were compelled to act. Thus, the move from the confines of their laboratories and classrooms to the communities to arm the public with the right information needed to keep Ebola away from Cameroon.
“If we should have an outbreak, it will be very difficult to control it. So it is easier for us to prevent it right now,” Prof Nalova said. Talking on prevention methods, Nalova prescribed the practice of basic hygiene ; “Practically, this means all the basic hygiene rules should be obeyed. The washing of hands with soap or other detergents is very imperative,” she added.
Chief Matute Mbene in Limbe found it hard to believe that Ebola is merely a natural occurrence. To him, Ebola, probably, must have been a virus imported by “white” researchers from the West and injected into monkeys in Africa in the name of carrying out research.
He said that, often times, when these researchers from the West come and get into our forests, we are hardly ever there to ascertain whatever they are doing. “This is my conviction and I don’t know how you can change it,” Chief Mbene, one-time District Chair for the Victoria-Limbe Electoral District, insisted.
But Prof Nalova and the scientists insisted that such a conviction does not hold sway because the Ebola virus does not discriminate. They said, it is better for Cameroonians to first prevent it from ever reaching Cameroon, than start haggling over whether it was imported into Africa or otherwise.
“Ebola is not something that the White-man has brought into Cameroon,” Nalova said. “There are several theories,” she went on, “that people are propagating outside. But people need to use their sense of good judgment to know what they can listen to or adhere to. If we get the facts and figures of deaths from the disease in other countries then we can know how dangerous the disease is. It is not a joke.”
In Tiko, the Deputy Mayor, Moses Tangtang, said their Council was going to intensify the clean-Tiko campaign in the days ahead and also ensure people stop the habit of wake-keeping with corpses which has been discouraged as being one of the ways through which diseases easily spread in communities.
