60 health personnel from some State-owned hospitals in the Littoral and Southwest Regions, on September 3 – 4, attended a seminar/workshop at the Laquintinie Hospital in Douala, on the deadly Ebola virus.

The health personnel are those who will man the special isolation wards that have been reserved in four public hospitals in the Littoral and Southwest Regions, for any eventual Ebola cases. One of the four hospitals is the Laquantinie Hospital, which hosted the seminar.

Some of the health personnel who attended the seminar will also be assigned to the special health control posts (health posts) at the Douala International Airport, at Ekok (Cameroon-Nigeria frontier), at Idenau ‘port’ (Fako Division), as well as to the two control posts which the Minister of Public Health, Andre Mama Fouda, on September 1, announced will soon be created at the Douala Port.

The Douala seminar came up within a backdrop of growing fears that the Ebola virus, which has come as close as neighbouring Nigeria, might eventually enter Cameroon. Such a seminar had become imperative, especially considering the fact that the Ebola virus has never been detected in Cameroon, and thus the health personnel have never handled an Ebola case.

The 60 health personnel, during the two-day seminar, were, among other things, trained on how to protect themselves from being contaminated by the Ebola virus, and how to deal with Ebola patients, in situations where they have to handle patients with the contagious virus.

The health personnel were also taught how the Ebola virus is transmitted, what are the symptoms, how to carry out a diagnosis on a suspected Ebola case, among others.

But the seminar came up when none of the four hospitals with the special isolation wards, as well as none of the control posts, have yet been provided the special materials and equipment to be used in handling Eboala cases, which the Health Minister promised some weeks back.

There were thus no practical demonstrations at the seminar as the health personnel had desired. The health personnel thus registered a complaint to the fact they were being theoretically taught how to practically use materials and equipment that they have, so far, seen only on TV, to handle eventual cases of the contagious and deadly Ebola virus.

Rumour About An Ebola Case One of the interesting issues which came up during discussions at the seminar/workshop was a rumour which, a few weeks ago, rocked Douala in particular and the country as a whole; that there was a patient with the Ebola virus at the Laquintinie Hospital.

The rumour sparked quite some panic among the population of the nation’s economic capital. The situation was made worst by the fact that it took as long as five days, before local authorities came out to officially debunk it.

The Governor of the Littoral Region, Joseph Beti Assomo, who finally cleared the air on the issue in his capacity as the Chairman of the Littoral Regional Committee for the Fight against Epidemics, admitted that the rumour sparked off from a suspected Ebola case that was brought to the Laquintinie Hospital. The patient was a 49-year-old Chinese engineer who had been living and working in Cameroon for a couple of months.

The Governor disclosed that, when the Chinese engineer fell sick, he was first taken to a private health unit in Douala, which is owned by a Chinese national, but the man’s situation kept deteriorating.

Five days later, the Chinese engineer, who was then in very bad shape, was taken to a private medical centre owned by a Cameroonian. A medical doctor at the centre suspected that the Chinese engineer probably had the Ebola virus, and demanded that he be rushed to a ‘bigger’ hospital. He was then rushed to the Laquintinie Hospital.

Health personnel of the Laquintinie Hospital, who attended the seminar, admitted during the discussions that when the Chinese engineer was brought to the hospital, the health personnel were panic-stricken, especially those working in the ward where he was held.

This was because the patient had similar symptoms like those of the Ebola virus; like high fever and running stomach. The health personnel disclosed that it took quite sometime for some medical doctors at the hospital to be able to convince them not to panic. But even the medical doctors also suspected that the Chinese had the Ebola virus.

However, the result of a laboratory test that was reportedly carried out at the Centre Pasteur in Yaounde on blood samples sent from the Laquintinie Hospital, showed that the Chinese engineer did not have the Ebola virus. The Littoral Governor disclosed that the Chinese engineer, who died a few days later, was reportedly diagnosed of Hepatitis B.

How The Special Camera Works The Littoral Regional Coordinator for the Fight Against Epidemics, Dr Victor Kame, who was one of the organisers and resource persons at the Douala seminar, explained how the special camera (to be installed at the Douala International Airport) to help detect suspected Ebola cases, works. He said the camera is highly sensitive and is able to detect, at a distance, any person with a body temperature much higher than the normal body temperature.

He explained that if the camera at the control post (health post) detects any abnormality, the person will immediately be placed in isolation and tested for the Ebola virus.