March 1, 2016 By Alusine Sesay
A Sierra Leonean scientist and chief strategist of Project 1808, Dr. Alhaji U. N’jai, has told a group of researchers, academics and scientists that the Ebola virus was very much lethal and that there was need for continuous surveillance to prevent future outbreak.
“We want to know the reason for the persistent occurrence of the EVD since it started in Zaire. Over the last ten years, it has occurred 20 times and we have been making progress in order to find a cure for the virus,” he said. “The Ebola Virus is very much lethal; therefore it is important for continuous surveillance around it.”
The Ebola virus disease affected the three Mano River Union countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone from late 2013 to 2015, killing thousands and destroying the socio-economic fabric in the three countries.
According to the World Health Organisation, about 11,301 people, including medical personnel, died of the disease in the three neighbouring countries.
The outbreak was fought by many people from different fronts, including logisticians, humanitarians and medics, while researches strived to find a vaccine for the deadly virus.
The University of Wisconsin in the United States, Institute of Medical Research at the University of Tokyo in Japan, and the University of Sierra Leone collaborated to find possible answers to numerous questions still unanswered about the Ebola virus.
Through project 1808, the International Ebola Control Research Partnership and Cooperation of the three institutions yesterday organised an international conference to highlight progress, capability and future directions on how to prevent Ebola and other infectious diseases in Sierra Leone and neighbouring countries.
Addressing participants at the Radisson Blu Mammy Yoko Hotel, Aberdeen in Freetown, Dr. N’jai said their research was based on understanding why Ebola kills some people while others survive.
He added that significant progress has been made in the development of ‘A-Whole Ebola vaccine’, which is very close to phase one trial.
The phase one trial, he said, would be done in Japan and Sierra Leone, with the approval of both governments.
“We have already tested the A-whole vaccine on non-human primates and it has proved to be highly effective. We have discovered that the EVD virus is deadly and that is why the survivors face lots of side effects,” he said.
Vice Chancellor and Principal of University of Sierra Leone (USL), Professor Ekundayo Thompson, said they were pleased to be associated with the conference in the context of partnership.
He said the conference would further strengthen collaborative endeavors among the three universities, noting that Sierra Leone was now better placed for an appropriate response to any future outbreak of the diseasese.
He said the USL found space in the fight against the Ebola Virus Disease through the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences.
Prof. Yoshihiro Kawaoka, from the Universities of Wisconsin and Tokyo, said they had established a laboratory at the 34 Military hospital at Wilberforce, Freetown, during the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone.
“We were able to collect blood samples and shipped them to the United States of America. We did a serological surveillance study on Ebola and our research has been to identify new human pathogens that cause human diseases,” he said.
He disclosed that they got funding to set up the laboratory at the 34 Military hospital from Health Labour Sciences Research Grant in Japan, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health grant U19AI06772, and the Advanced Research and Development Programs for Medical Innovation from the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development.
Capt. Dr. Foday Sesay of the 34 Military hospital said their research work was aimed at knowing the persistence of the Ebola virus in the body fluid of survivors. He added that they established a survivors’ clinic on 28 December, 2014 to detect and treat medical and psycho-social effects of Ebola among survivors in the Western Area.
To date, he said, they had 400 patients at the survivors clinic who received medication, medical consultation, laboratory work up, and psycho-social treatment, among others.
“85% of EVD survivors have been complaining about musculoskeletal problems, 34% of headache, 25% of eye problems, 15% of skin problems and 5% of dizziness,” he disclosed.
He added that the challenges of the Ebola survivors’ clinic had been reaching out to survivors, verifying survivor’s status, referral for management of chronic illness and lack of government funding to support laboratory test and provision of basic medications.