Exclusive: Nigerian virologist speaks on cure for HIV, Lassa fever and Zika virus

The President, Nigeria Academy of Science and chairman, Lassa fever control committee in an exclusive interview with naij.com reacts to claims of a cure for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in Nigeria.

How is Nigeria Academy of Science addressing the shortage of students studying science related courses in Nigeria?

We are employing several approaches and working with different organizations to address the issue. For example, we have been collaborating with the Schlumberger company in the SEED Schools Science Project Challenge and Exposition. The initiative focuses on partnering with schools in the communities and connecting students to essential resources for science education.

We are also providing evidence based policy advice to governments on ways and methods of getting young people from the primary school level to be interested in science. We have called for improved training opportunities for science teachers. In addition, we are planning on establishing science museum in different parts of the country

Is Nigeria Academy of Science confident that the minister of science and technology, Ogbonnya Onu will bring the required change to science in Nigeria?

Yes, indeed we are confident that he will make the desired change. He has demonstrated, within the short time of assuming office that he is office to make a positive change. However, for him to succeed, there is need for the government to implement the recommendations of the 2015 science summit attended by 38 science associations and societies in Nigeria.

These recommendations were based on the premise that governments at federal and state levels would appreciate and genuinely recognize that science, technology, and innovation (STI) are fundamental to development, peace, and progress in Nigeria. They constitute the engine for economic growth and prosperity. And that Nigeria’s social, economic, political, infrastructural and cultural challenges can be ameliorated through the use of advancements in science and technology.

Therefore, the government should adopt a fresh and positive attitude to STI, realizing that the categorization of nations as developed, developing, or underdeveloped is largely based on the level of scientific and technological development

In this regard, the ministry of science and technology (and indeed the minister to direct the ministry) should be a prominent member of the government’s cabinet. The minister of science and technology should also be a member of the Economic Management Team

The presidential council on science, technology, and innovation (PCSTI) should be backed by law and chaired by the President and commander-in-chief of the armed forces of Nigeria, with service-wide representation in its composition. Its report should be part of the President’s annual address to the National Assembly. A national science foundation should be urgently established, backed by law, and managed by the PCSTI.

Nigerian needs a presidential adviser on science, technology and innovation. The office will help coordinate the research activities in the different arms of the government and bring order into research funding and application of research findings

What areas of science does the Nigeria Academy of Science want the Muhammadu Buhari administration to improve on?

First we need a scientifically based, evidence gathering review of existing science research establishments, an overhaul of research funding in Nigeria. Currently research funding activities are uncoordinated.  Other areas needing government attention are listed above as recommendations from the Science Summit.

With the recent outbreak of Lassa fever and it spread to 20 states in Nigeria, how far has the committee on the control of the disease gone?

The best we can do with Lassa Fever is control, and not eradicate it. Unlike polio and small pox which can be eradicated because both are transmitted man-to-man, without an intermediate host or a vector, diseases like Lassa, Ebola, Malaria and Yellow fever cannot be eradicated because they each have different natural hosts and vectors transmitting the disease.

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The committee is gathering information and cleaning up data. We are reviewing past epidemics to see if there is a pattern; where, when – the first case each year? Any link among cases? Do we have independent state outbreaks or are the cases linked? We are also working with our lab people to be sure of number of confirmed cases, standard quality control for lab tests etc. When we have the authenticated information, we will be in a better position to prepare a long term plan for future control of Lassa Fever outbreak.

The subcommittees on communication, clinical/case management, laboratory diagnosis and field epidemiology will submit reports to the next meeting of the Lassa fever control committee scheduled for February 15 and 16, in Abuja. While our committee has provided a revised proposal to combat current outbreaks, it will not rush, as it is usual, to provide proposals based on inaccurate and unverified data.

 As one of those who conducted early research on Lassa fever virus in 1974, what has been the efforts of the Nigerian Academy of Science in finding a cure for the disease?

I was a student in the veterinary school in Zaria when Lassa fever broke out in 1969. Those who did the discovery, visited us in Zaria and made a presentation to our virology class. I was one of those who volunteered to work with the team after graduating from the veterinary school in 1971.

It was not until 1974, I got a chance to begin Lassa fever study and investigation, with the Lassa fever outbreak in Onitsha at the Charles Borromeo Hospital. Thereafter I got more involved with Lassa fever. So indeed, I did not discover Lassa virus, rather Lassa virus discovered me!   

As to a cure for Lassa fever, there is already a drug – Ribavirin- used in the treatment of the disease. It is very effective when treatment is started early in the course of the disease; becoming less effective if treatment is started late in the course of the disease. There is therefore a need for discover and test more effective drugs.

With the poor attention we pay to science and research in Nigeria, the chances of finding new drugs by scientists in the country are as slim as thin air! There is a need for government and industry to provide adequate finds and create an enabling environment for the conduct of relevant research for national development

There has been rumors in some quarters of a cure for HIV in Nigeria. How true is this?

We currently do not have published scientific evidence for such claims. 

Just in the wake of the Lassa fever disease, the federal ministry of health raised concerns on the outbreak of Zika virus in some parts of the world. Can you please enlighten Nigerians on this disease?

Zika virus disease is caused by a virus transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. The disease is characterized by a mild fever, skin rash and conjunctivitis, lasting for 2-7 days. There is no specific treatment or vaccine currently available. The best form of prevention is protection against mosquito bites. The virus is found in Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific.

Recently, outbreaks of Zika outside Africa (French Polynesia and Brazil) have been associated with potential neurological and auto-immune complications, such as microcephaly in newborn babies. Prevention is achieved by reducing mosquitoes through source reduction (removal and modification of breeding sites) and reducing contact between mosquitoes and people, such as using insect repellent; wearing clothes (preferably light-colored) that cover as much of the body as possible; using physical barriers such as screens, closed doors and windows; and sleeping under mosquito nets.

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It is also important to empty, clean or cover containers that can hold water such as buckets, flower pots or tyres, so that places where mosquitoes can breed are removed. During outbreaks, health authorities may advise that spraying of insecticides be carried out. Insecticides recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) pesticide evaluation scheme may also be used as larvicides to treat relatively large water containers. Travellers should take the basic precautions described above to protect themselves from mosquito bites.

Zika is already in the country. Zika virus was first isolated in Nigeria in 1954 by workers at the West African Medical Research Council laboratory in Yaba. One virus isolate, each was made from three cases of people presenting with jaundice.  Studies in the 1970’s through the 80’s further confirmed the presence of Zika virus in Nigeria, through virus isolation and antibody studies in man.

Since we “killed” through lack of funding, the study of insect borne viruses in Nigeria since the 1990s, we cannot tell what has happened to Zika virus in Nigeria. But I am confident that if we search for it, we will find it. So you do not import what already exists in your country, but I forgot we are in Nigeria where as you know we will spend foreign exchange to import coal to Enugu! 

Let me also say that Zika is not the first virus to present as a mild febrile infection in the African region and then become a monster outside the region. We have had examples with viruses like West Nile, and Chikungunya, which are associated with mild infections in many parts of Africa only to get to other regions and cause severe havoc.

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Reasons adduced for such behavior, include. mutation of the virus in new hosts, and where it is mild, presence of other related viruses circulating in the region. For example we have the following viruses in Nigeria. Yellow fever, West Nile, Zika, Dengue, Wesselsbron etc. All belong to the same family and previous infection with one could reduce the severity of another one in the future.

But whatever the reason for the known mildness of the Zika virus so far in Africa, we need to prepare for the possibility that the virulent Zika can be imported into Nigeria through mosquitoes. Therefore, as we have always advised in vain, reduce the number of breeding sites of mosquitoes, protect yourself from mosquito bites. We must clean up our clogged gutters where pools of water become the breeding factories for mosquitoes.

Let us be frank, we are a thoroughly dirty nation, no matter which part of Nigeria you are, dirtiness seems to be one common national asset we take pride in. The monthly environmental sanitation exercise is futile. We need to develop the habit of daily cleaning of our surroundings and daily clearing of our refuse. Until people learn not to throw refuse all over the place, we will remain a filthy and foul country.

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