Ebolademic Panic

The fear of the deadly Ebola virus is everywhere now, people are scared as rumours fly about from unknown and unverified sources and if the information going round is to be believed, then by the end of this year more than half the population of Nigeria will die from Ebola.

Real or imagined or just unconfirmed information, many men of God are instilling fears in their members from the pulpit, so many revelations about the virus are being accredited to some prominent men of God, and it’s really a sad situation if it’s true. Awareness should be created and not fear, we have cases of Ebola in the country, but has it become Ebolademic, has it gotten to the stage where everyone should be afraid to even breath air outside their homes.

The information going round is that we should not shake hands with people anymore, we should not embrace friends again, we should not eat bush meat because animals are the primary carriers of the virus, and we should not come in contact with another’s person body. The question is; those that have to commute with public transport every day, what should the do? Maybe the federal government will have to come out with a special raincoat for people to wear as a safety measure.

The latest information now is that people should bath with hot water with a dash of salt inside as well as drink the salty water for safety measures. I received a call from a relative as early as 4:30am to pass the information, then I got lots of broadcast on BBM toward that effect and by the time I came out of my house the information was all over Nigeria.

I began to wonder what salt has to do with Ebola virus until I read up somewhere that the Ebola virus is worm-like, and someone somewhere has put up the logic that since salt kills worm, it may be effective in killing the Ebola virus and so the information spread with an alarming velocity, even to the point of death. There was report of people who died from excess intake of salt and some others hospitalized too; all because of unnecessary fear.

From reports monitored so far, the numbers of infected persons are too small for the panic being generated. In as much as we should not throw cautious to the wind, but with the way it’s be escalated, Ebolademic panic will kill people more than the Ebola virus.