The Primate of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), the Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh, on Tuesday, advised Nigerians to be wary of clerics claiming to have spiritual healing for the deadly Ebola virus.
Okoh said this in Abuja on the sideline of the 2014 Conference of Chancellors, Registrars, and Legal Officers of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion).
The primate advised persons infected with the virus not to waste time in seeking medical attention from…[in]appropriate authorities.
It’s been encouraging to see the improvement of Dr. Brantly and Nancy Writebol.
However… in Africa, the situation is now getting MUCH worse, with the virus now on the loose in Lagos, Nigeria. Terrifying. An incredibly densely packed mega-city, and one with connections all over the world… much less isolated than the other African cities where the virus is spreading [ Conakry (the capital of Guinea), Monrovia (Capital of Liberia), and Freetown (capital of Sierra Leone).] Truly, the news of Ebola having infected people in Lagos is a worst-case scenario, and I can understand why the WHO is holding emergency meetings.
Without a miracle, this situation will sadly get MUCH worse now before it gets better. Given what I know of West Africa, I fear the devastation will be measured not only in those infected and killed, but huge economic losses, civil and political instability, and perhaps violence and bloodshed.
I can only pray the US will not lose interest once the stories of Dr. Brantly and Nancy Writebol are off the front pages, and I pray God will raise up more Christians to come and serve in the areas where the suffering is so great, even though the risk is high. In God’s mercy, perhaps the infections of Brantly and Writebol will fire up research for a cure and a vaccine… Sadly, it sometimes takes the awareness of a real risk to ourselves to mobilize a full-force mobilization. That time has now come.
Karen B., visions of the devastation of Europe with the Black Death, or of the 50 million deaths in the 1918-1919 flu epidemic come to mind. This is quite terrifying and because of air travel it may have an impact well beyond Africa.
Reference has been made to Muslim African burial customs which require the washing of the body by close relatives before burial. Exposure to the fluids on the body during the process may be helping to spread it more quickly. Also, many in West Africa are suspicious of Western habits and medicine and seek local healers.
On the plus side, this morning on Fox Business I saw an interview with a woman who has been working with Ebola research for ten years. It was suggested that the zMapp medicine which seems to have helped Dr. Brantly greatly and Mrs. Writebol at least somewhat can be mass-produced rather quickly. It is not FDA-approved here, but it could be grown (it grows on tobacco plants) in Africa and produced locally. In this emergency situation we can hope for rapid movement on this front. These two American missionaries were the first humans ever to receive it; it had been tried previously only on monkeys, where it was very effective.