The Nigerian presidency has assured the public that emergency response mechanisms are fully activated following the confirmation of an imported Ebola case in Abuja.
Speaking after an emergency meeting at the State House on Wednesday, the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Ebola Preparedness and Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, said specialized health protocols enabled the swift detection and isolation of the patient.
“The Task Force is on top of it. NCDC is on top of it; everyone is on deck,” Mr Gbajabiamila said, noting that screeners had processed thousands of international arrivals since regional monitoring heightened earlier this year.
He called for public cooperation, urging citizens to avoid panic and follow official health directives.
Multilateral containment strategy
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Ali Pate, confirmed that contact tracing, contact isolation, and specialized clinical protocols are underway in coordination with state health ministries and global health bodies.
“We have been conducting contact tracing diligently and isolating those contacts of the index imported case,” Prof Pate said. “Our hospital capabilities are activated, and we are confident that if we continue on this path, we will contain this outbreak.”
The government confirmed that the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has activated its Incident Management System alongside technical support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
Senior border control, civil aviation, and subnational health officials participated in the emergency briefing, while public health authorities urged citizens to refrain from spreading unverified information regarding the virus.
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