Kate, Bright and Happiness sat on the lawn of a Lagos brothel, sipping lager and chatting with men in groups of two or four. Business had been good, they said, until Ebola arrived.
“I have been in this business for two years but business has never been this slow,” said Kate.
“I used to have an average of seven customers per day but I can hardly see four now since this Ebola disease came to town,” the 25-year-old told AFP.
“Many of our customers are afraid to come to us for fear of contracting the disease. This Ebola wahala (problem) is really bad business. The government should do something about it.”
With Ebola spread through the bodily fluids of an infected person, including sweat, the sex workers say they’ve been particularly badly hit by public fears.
“This disease is bad-o!” said 23-year-old Bright. “It is worse than HIV/AIDS. You can prevent HIV by using condoms but you can’t do the same with Ebola.
“If care is not taken we will soon be driven out of business because nobody wants to die.”
Sex workers aren’t the only ones in the informal economy — in which an estimated three-quarters of Nigerians work — who are feeling the effects of Ebola. Three people have died of the disease in Lagos, and more are expected.
Sellers of bushmeat, a popular delicacy in Nigeria and elsewhere in the region, also complain of fewer customers.
The hunters, who catch animals such as antelope, porcupine and bush rats, fear for their livelihoods if the trend continues.
Fruit bats and monkeys are both thought to transmit the virus.