The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has reassured Nigerians that there is currently no confirmed case of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in the country, even as health authorities intensify emergency surveillance measures following fresh outbreaks in parts of Africa.
In a public health advisory issued on Sunday, the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Jide Idris, said the country remains Ebola-free despite growing concerns triggered by recent cases recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.
“Nigeria currently has no confirmed case of Ebola Virus Disease,” Idris stated.
The agency, however, disclosed that it has activated heightened monitoring systems and is working closely with critical stakeholders, including the Port Health Service under the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, to prevent any possible importation of the deadly virus into the country.
According to the NCDC, surveillance has been strengthened at entry points while preparedness measures across the public health system are being intensified.
The agency urged Nigerians not to panic or circulate false information about the disease, stressing the need for strict adherence to preventive measures such as regular hand washing and avoiding contact with bodily fluids of infected persons.
“Healthcare workers are advised to maintain a high index of suspicion for EVD in patients presenting with compatible symptoms and relevant travel or exposure history,” the advisory added.
The renewed alert comes amid mounting fears across the continent after the World Health Organization declared an international public health emergency over the Ebola outbreak ravaging the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The outbreak has reportedly killed more than 80 people, with no approved vaccine currently available for the strain involved.
Tension escalated further after health authorities confirmed a new Ebola case in Goma, a major eastern Congolese city controlled by the Rwanda-backed M23 militia.
According to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 88 deaths and 336 suspected cases of the highly infectious haemorrhagic fever have so far been recorded.
Professor Jean-Jacques Muyembe, Director of the Congolese National Institute for Biomedical Research, revealed that the latest confirmed case involved the wife of a man who died of Ebola in Bunia and later travelled to Goma while already infected.
Reacting to the escalating crisis, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the situation now constitutes “a public health emergency of international concern,” although he clarified that it has not yet reached the threshold of a pandemic emergency under existing international health regulations.
