Nigeria’s Federal Government has confirmed one case of Ebola disease in the Federal Capital Territory following laboratory tests and begun monitoring 44 close contacts of the confirmed case.
The patient, a woman who recently arrived in Nigeria on an international flight from Uganda, had received care at a private hospital in Abuja for several days before the diagnosis was confirmed. She was placed in isolation and continued receiving medical care.
Health authorities identified 44 close contacts and began tracing and monitoring people who may have been exposed. They included healthcare workers, patients, caregivers and travel contacts.
The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention began working with the Federal Capital Territory Health Services Secretariat and other authorities to contain the infection.
Surveillance was intensified, while the hospital that treated the patient received support to strengthen its infection-prevention and control measures.
The government urged public and private healthcare facilities nationwide to remain on high alert.
Health workers were instructed to identify and isolate suspected cases promptly, observe strict infection-control procedures and report them to public-health authorities.
Nigerians were advised to remain calm, practise regular hand hygiene and avoid contact with the blood or other bodily fluids of anyone suspected of having Ebola.
The government also asked people to watch for symptoms including fever, severe weakness, headache, vomiting and diarrhoea, particularly after possible exposure. Anyone who developed symptoms was advised to avoid close contact with others and contact public-health authorities before visiting a healthcare facility.
Ebola spreads through direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an infected person, or through contact with contaminated materials. A person infected with the virus cannot transmit it before symptoms begin.
Authorities identified Uganda as the woman’s point of departure. Uganda declared its previous Ebola outbreak over in July after completing the required monitoring period without detecting further transmission.
Nigeria confirmed the case as African countries continued responding to a regional outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo virus. The Democratic Republic of Congo had recorded 9,066 confirmed cases and 4,381 deaths by October 11, according to the World Health Organization.
Kenya also recorded imported infections after a traveller arrived from DR Congo through Uganda. Further cases were detected among the first patient’s relatives and healthcare workers, although Kenyan authorities said there was no evidence of transmission beyond known contacts.
Nigeria previously contained an Ebola outbreak in 2014 after recording 20 cases and eight deaths.
The World Health Organization declared the outbreak over after the country went 42 days without another case.
Elie GATETE
RADIOTV10