The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has placed Lagos, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and eight other states on high Ebola alert due to the outbreak of the deadly Bundibugyo strain of Ebola Virus Disease in parts of East and Central Africa.
It warned that Nigeria faces a heightened risk of importing the virus due to increasing international travel, porous borders and population movement across the region.
Other states listed by the agency as high risk include :Rivers, Kano, Enugu, Borno, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Taraba and Adamawa, owing to their international airports, seaports and border routes.
In a public health advisory issued to commissioners for health nationwide, the NCDC said no confirmed case has been recorded in Nigeria, but stressed that the risk level remains high.
“The immediate objective of our preparedness efforts is to ensure that every state and the FCT can detect, contain and respond swiftly to any suspected case,” the agency stated.
According to the NCDC, 1,077 suspected cases and 247 deaths have already been reported in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, representing a fatality rate of 24.6 per cent.
It explained that the outbreak involves the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there is currently no approved vaccine or specific treatment.
Health officials warned that symptoms of Ebola could initially resemble malaria, Lassa fever and other common illnesses, making early detection difficult.
“Health workers must not wait for bleeding before suspecting Ebola in patients with compatible symptoms and relevant travel history,” the advisory added.
The NCDC clarified that Ebola is not airborne, noting that the disease spreads mainly through direct contact with infected blood, body fluids, contaminated materials or infected animals.
The agency said its National Emergency Operations Centre has been activated in alert mode to coordinate nationwide preparedness efforts.
State governments were directed to activate Ebola preparedness structures, identify isolation centres, intensify surveillance at points of entry and provide frontline health workers with protective equipment.
The renewed alert has revived memories of Nigeria’s successful containment of the virus during the 2014 outbreak after an infected Liberian-American traveller, Patrick Sawyer, arrived in Lagos.
The World Health Organisation later described Nigeria’s response as one of the most effective Ebola containment efforts in Africa.
The latest warning comes as the country continues to battle outbreaks of Lassa fever, cholera and meningitis in several states, increasing pressure on the healthcare system.
