Friday, March 29, 2024

Medical personnel sent to Choma to verify a suspected Ebola case

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Dr Guy Scott
Dr Guy Scott

GOVERNMENT has dispatched medical personnel to Choma to verify a suspected Ebola case after a truck driver was found dead in his cabin on Thursday.

Vice president Guy Scott told parliament that Government had received information on the truck driver found dead in Choma and said a team of medical experts had since been sent to the town to ascertain the facts.

This followed a question from Dundumwezi UPND MP Edgar Singombe who wanted to find out what Government was doing about the panic that had gripped Choma residents following a truck driver who was found dead in his truck cabin.

Dr Scott however said that Zambia has never recorded a case of Ebola from the time the disease broke out.

He called for peace and calm among the people as the country was not at high risk of contracting the disease as it did not have direct flights to affected countries.

He urged the public to take correct measures to avoid contracting Ebola.

Choma residents were on Thursday afternoon gripped with fear and panic after news spread of a Zimbabwean driver who was found dead in his truck from suspected Ebola.

Some residents rushed for the safety of their homes after word spread in the central business area of Choma.

China Maduma, 59, who had been travelling from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to South Africa, was driving a truck belonging to Moody Blue Transport, registration number WPV001GP.

Mr Maduma’s truck was laden with copper and he had stopped for a rest on Thursday morning at a truck stop along the Choma-Livingstone Road.

He spent some time cleaning his truck and some workers at the truck stop heard him communicate with fellow truckers who were still transiting from Lusaka, that he was unwell.

Mr Maduma was seen sleeping on his driver’s seat and by 13:00 hours when his counterparts arrived, he was already dead.

After this, no one dared to go close to the truck for fear of contracting what they suspected to be the Ebola virus, which had ravaged some West African countries, as well as some confirmed cases in the DRC.

Health workers from Choma medical office were immediately informed about Mr Maduma’s death, which some people at the car park suspected could have been caused by Ebola.

A check by the Times at the scene around 15:30 hours found two health workers clad in Ebola protective clothing disinfecting the truck and the body which was lying inside the cabin.

Scores of truck drivers and other health workers stood at a distance as the two workers continued spraying.

Southern Province deputy police commissioner, Milner Muyambango said police could not remove the body from the cabin immediately as they had to wait for health officials to fumigate the truck.

Mr Muyambango said that the body was only removed from the cabin around 20:00 hours and was taken to Choma Hospital mortuary after it was examined by health workers.

He said Zimbabwean authorities had since been informed about the death of Mr Maduma to enable his family come to identify the body.

Provincial medical officer Jelita Chinyonga, however, said Mr Maduma did not die from Ebola, but he was discovered to have been suffering from ulcers, after being screened.

“Immediately when we were informed about his death, our health officials who were in Ebola protective clothing rushed to the scene, fumigated the entire truck and the cabin. It was discovered that Mr Maduma was suffering from ulcers,” she said.

Dr Chinyonga said health officers were geared to curb any case of Ebola outbreak and urged people to continue taking precautionary measures against Ebola.

16 COMMENTS

  1. VP, a person who is infected by ebola and destinated for Zambia on an indirect flight can still import and contaminate Zambians once in the country. We do not have to have direct flight connections to affected countries to worry about this ebola plague. Rephrase your assurance.

    However it is encouraging to note that Zambians are alert to the threat of ebola reading the care those in Choma took by either running away or keeping a distance from the suspected death by ebola corpse.

    • Ignorance is for real…at the point that ebola takes you, one has no power to drive a truck (the disease takes at most six to sixteen days to kill after symptoms appear)! This poor fellow probably had a heart attack or something else…

    • So this zambian govt has more brains than the Obama administration in dealing with this issues of Ebola. We send medical doctors to places where we think there could be a risk but barack obama sends soldiers? why? Ba Barack nabo, he is a pawn for the men who rule the world behind the scenes. invading africa all in the name of Ebola!!!

  2. Guy Scott is such an ***** who told him that you can only catch Ebola if you have direct flights to those western African countries does he know that we have the biggest boarder with DRC were Ebola started from? This man is so careless with his answers.

  3. Watch out for Liberians criminals who run “black dollar scams” in Zambia… most of them reside in Emmasdale and shanty compounds around the country.., they travel back and forth and love to eat monkey meat which they call bushmeat

  4. mwati mukala kwanisha ukusunsumana pakunya Ebola nga yafika? Nefi abengi tamwakwaata nama toilet yakwikalapo..

  5. The Disaster Management in Zambia falls under the office of the vice president. Am shaking under my bones knwing the person of Guy Scott as the overall manager of this critical office. He shows incompetence and general stupidity in such matters. To use the fact that Zambia has not yet recorded any ebola case as the reason to quell dissenting voices shows just what low level caliber this VP is . 1: Sending officials from Lusaka, over 300km away, to go ascertain cause of death (as ebola or not) is a sign of a lacking district. If (God forbid) we were hit like W/Africa and have to rely on Lsk people we would be in a total mess. 2: Taking 7hrs to remove the body from the track shows how unprepared and careless we still are. 3: “Ascertaining facts isn’t the same as making a lab test! wake…

    • wake up Mr. V.P. This isn’t a case for “easy” Ebola can hit from anywhere. Every district must be prepared and trained for this possibility, the public must be continually trained through aggressive media campaigns and political/social campaign. Get to work, avoid foolish propaganda and spare your reputation of haphazard, uncoordinated and impulsive form of administration. Ebola is Real, aggressive and unpredictable….better at the game the splashy but brainless politicians.

    • The VP did not want to alarm the nation any how. The medical personnel also did it right to handle the situation in that manner. I see most things applied correctly. In leadership you don’t spark things without calculation. A person in trasit passes men check points. The Zambian check might be second or even third. The government is serious about this.

  6. Even though it was not ebola it was nice that health inspectors went to the scene in full gear. it shows that they can fight the disease.

  7. Well done Dr. Chinyonga and team for your vigilance.It shows that we are alert.The population equally also is well informed as they ran to their homes because they know how infectious Ebola is.

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