Nigeria Ebola Outbreak: FG Activates Emergency Containment Strategies After Index Case Detected
ABUJA, NIGERIA — The Federal Government has assured citizens of its full capacity to contain the newly discovered index case of Ebola in the country, revealing that robust surveillance protocols and a newly activated Incident Management System are already operational.
The assurance followed an emergency meeting of the Presidential Task Force on Ebola Preparedness, Virus Disease Preparedness and Emerging Public Health Threats at the State House on Wednesday.
Speaking to journalists after the meeting, the Chairman of the Task Force and Chief of Staff to the President, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, disclosed that the index case was identified in Abuja. Notably, the passenger showed no symptoms upon arrival and only began exhibiting them four days after entering the capital city.
Gbajabiamila credited the swift identification to the rigorous screening protocols established by the Ministry of Health and its sister agencies since the Task Force was inaugurated in June 2024.
“Since the issue of Ebola came up in June, there have been about 44,000 flights in and out of Nigeria,” Gbajabiamila stated. “It was the identification process and the protocols that were put in place that enabled the quick identification. That also speaks to the country’s capacity and ability to deal with this disease as best as we can.”
He urged the public to remain calm, avoid panic, and cooperate with public health directives, emphasizing that the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is fully on top of the situation.
Contact Tracing and State Readiness Activated
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Mohammed Pate, confirmed that health authorities have already initiated comprehensive contact tracing and have successfully isolated individuals who came into contact with the imported index case.
According to Pate, the federal government is collaborating with international partners, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), to manage the response across multiple pillars.
“Most of our states have adequate response plans. We have the resources, and we’re mobilising those capabilities,” Pate said. He also reminded citizens of Nigeria’s successful containment of the virus during the 2014 outbreak, expressing confidence that the nation’s public health physicians are well-equipped to repeat that success.
Call to Fight Misinformation
The Health Minister strongly warned against the spread of unverified rumours, noting that misinformation could cause unnecessary panic and undermine containment efforts.
The high-level emergency meeting included key heads of the aviation, immigration, and health sectors, such as the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Immigration Service, Kemi Nandap, and the Managing Director of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Bunmi Kuku. State actors, including the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi, also participated virtually to ensure a synchronized subnational response.
Ebidowei Preye is a Nigeria-based security correspondent for Klick News, covering insurgency, national security, oil bunkering, pipeline vandalism, and other security-related developments across the country.
