Nigerians beg Obama to give Lagos nurse vaccine

Nigerians on different social media platforms on Saturday asked
President Barack Obama to give a vaccine,ZMapp, being developed in the
United States to treat a Nigerian nurse, Justina Ejelonu, reportedly
infected with Ebola.

On such websites as Facebook and Twitter, the petitioners begged Obama
to release the vaccine to Ejelonu and other Africans suffering from
the virus. The petitions were made on the White House website.

Ejelonu, who is one of those that were infected with the Ebola virus
after treating the Liberian victim, Patrick Sawyer, has said she did
not have direct contact with Sawyer's body fluids.

The deadly virus, which leads to death in humans within days from
infection, is transmitted through sweat, urine, blood, and other
fluids from the body.

Ejelonu recounted her encounter with Sawyer in a report on a website,
www.southeastnigeria.co m.

According to the website, she said she had checked his vitals and
helped him with food because he was too weak, and that the mode of
transmission could be from touching the same surfaces as the Liberian.

She said, "I never contacted his fluids. I checked his vitals, helped
him with his food (he was too weak). I basically touched where his
hands touched and that's the only contact -- not directly with his
fluids.

"At a stage, he yanked off his infusion and we had blood everywhere on
his bed. But the ward maids took care of that and changed his linens
with great precaution. Every patient is treated as high-risk. If it
were air borne, by nowwahala for dey(there would have been trouble). I
still thank God."

Ejelonu added that the workers' uniforms and Sawyer's bedding were
burnt afterwards, saying the staff were under surveillance and
off-duty till August 11.

She said, "Our samples have long been taken by the World Health
Organisation and so far, we have been fine. Kudos to my hospital
management because we work professionally with every patient
considered as high-risk -- that's the training."

The health worker noted that if it were a public hospital, the outcome
might have been different, adding that she was however grateful to the
Lagos State Government and the Federal Government for their support.