Nigeria is tracing contacts and mobilising worldwide help to comprise the new Ebola case confirmed in Abuja, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, has mentioned.
Mr Pate outlined the federal government’s response throughout an appearance on NTA’s Network News at 9 p.m. on Tuesday.
The authorities had earlier confirmed {that a} lady who not too long ago arrived in Nigeria on a global flight from Uganda examined constructive for Ebola. She is in isolation and receiving care at a personal hospital in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The minister mentioned nations together with Indonesia had supplied help, including that Nigerian public well being officers have been drawing on their expertise of containing the illness in 2014.
“The government is on top of it,” he mentioned.
“We have mobilised our partners globally, right from Indonesia and other countries that we have been in communication with, have offered their own support, in addition to the tremendous expertise and experience of Nigerian public health officials, who have had experience dealing with Ebola in 2014,” he mentioned.
Contact tracing and testing
Mr Pate mentioned the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) had the laboratory capability to detect the virus liable for the an infection.
He mentioned well being authorities have been working with the aviation sector to get hold of passenger manifests and establish individuals who might need been uncovered in the course of the affected person’s journey.
According to the minister, the lady had no signs whereas travelling however grew to become in poor health after arriving in Nigeria.
He mentioned 44 contacts had been traced and have been present process quarantine measures.
Mr Pate described the virus detected as totally different from the Sudan and Zaire viruses of Ebola however didn’t title it in the remarks offered for this report.
He additionally burdened the significance of correct journey histories in figuring out suspected infections, notably amongst individuals who not too long ago visited affected nations, together with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kenya and Uganda.
The signs he highlighted included headache, nausea, vomiting and muscle aches.
Ebola is a extreme infectious illness that may be deadly with out immediate medical consideration. However, early detection, acceptable therapy and efficient public well being measures can considerably enhance sufferers’ possibilities of survival and scale back the danger of transmission.
Coordinated response
In its earlier assertion confirming the case, the federal authorities mentioned it was working with FCT authorities and different companions to defend healthcare employees, sufferers and the general public.
“Nigeria successfully contained Ebola in 2014, and we have the experience and public health systems to respond to this case. However, containing Ebola requires everyone to play their part,” it mentioned.
The authorities mentioned investigations have been persevering with and that the Presidential Task Force on Ebola Virus Disease and the NCDC would offer updates.
It urged members of the general public looking for data or wishing to report a suspected case to contact the NCDC’s toll-free quantity, 6232, which it mentioned operates across the clock.
Nigeria’s earlier outbreak
Nigeria’s 2014 outbreak started after an contaminated traveller from Liberia arrived in Lagos. The response concerned speedy case detection, isolation and intensive contact tracing.
The nation recorded 19 laboratory-confirmed circumstances and one possible case, with eight deaths.
The World Health Organisation subsequently declared Nigeria freed from Ebola transmission on 20 October 2014, after 42 days with out a new case.
Regional outbreak continues
The Nigerian case comes amid an ongoing Ebola outbreak in the DRC, the place the illness has unfold throughout a number of provinces. The outbreak has been linked to the Bundibugyo virus, a kind of Ebola virus for which no licensed vaccine is at the moment accessible.
READ ALSO: Ebola: 44 identified contacts to stay isolated for three weeks – Minister
WHO reported greater than 8,700 confirmed circumstances and greater than 4,200 deaths in the DRC as of 6 October, with transmission persevering with throughout dozens of well being zones.
Kenya reported its first imported case on 6 October: a Kenyan citizen who had been residing in the DRC and travelled to Kenya by way of Uganda.
On 20 October, Kenyan authorities confirmed a ninth case involving a detailed member of the family of the primary affected person.
Uganda, from which the Nigerian affected person not too long ago travelled, recorded 20 circumstances between May and June 2026. The nation subsequently ended its outbreak after finishing the required 42-day interval with out a new confirmed case.
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