The Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole has allayed the fears of Nigerians about Zika virus which has been declared an international public health emergency by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
According to the minister, the virus has been in Nigeria since 1954 and could not harm the citizens, as Nigerians have developed strong resistance to the virus.
The virus has been ravaging South America and part of Caribbean. Brazil has been battling the largest Zika outbreak yet, with more than a million people infected.
The World Health Organization says Zika virus is “spreading explosively” throughout the Americas, and the agency warned that it’s expected to reach nearly every country in the Americas.
With the Olympics coming up in Brazil later in the year, fears the virus could spread further is heightening. But Adewole says Nigerians have immunity against the virus. The minister is a professor of medicine.
A research by A.H. Fagbami published in 1979 found out that 40 percent of Nigerians have Zika neutralizing anti-bodies.
