Nigerian scientist develops Ebola, Lassa fever detector

A Nigerian scientist, Dr. Michael Odighemeh, has announced the discovery of a fuzzy-neutral expert system for detecting Ebola and Lassa fever.

Odighemeh is a lecturer at the Faculty of Engineering in the Federal University Ndufu-Alike Ikwo (FUNAI), Ebonyi State.

He made the presentation in Abuja yesterday at an ongoing exhibition in the school, titled: “Research and development results, inventions, innovations.”

He explained that the expert system could be domiciled in an ATM-like interface, and offers self-help in a way that when pressed, it would trigger who to call depending on the symptom acquired.

He added, for instance, that if the system gives malaria as its findings, it means that the contagious disease is still mild.

But, if the temperature changes within a period of 30minutes, it could mean a second stage of Ebola or Lassa fever.

Odighemeh disclosed that the expert system, unlike medical expert, hardly makes mistake, adding that whatever it produced could be revalidated all over the world.

He said: “The system works in such a way that, with mathematical computed evidence levels and errors in judgement values, medical experts could obtain near accurate diagnosis, subject to verification by trained experts.”

Odighemeh said, having only developed the software, the next stage is to publicise and domesticate it for the use of medical facilities across the country.

He stressed that the technology would help to reduce the death of medical professionals in the treatment of contagious diseases