In a measure to contain the spread of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) following a confirmed case in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the Federal Government has directed aviation authorities to immediately place 46 high-risk contacts on a 21-day no-fly list across all domestic and international airlines.
The directive was announced by Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, via his X handle on Wednesday following a high-level virtual briefing with Muhammad Ali Pate, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare.
Keyamo disclosed that health authorities identified 44 individuals who made contact with the index patient at the hospital after she developed symptoms, alongside two of her domestic staff members.
Read also: Ebola alert casts shadow over international travel to Nigeria
“Whilst efforts are ongoing to isolate them for now until there is certainty they have not been infected with the virus, the Aviation authorities are required to put them on a no-fly list for at least 21 days, which is the period that the symptoms are normally expected to manifest,” Keyamo stated.
To enforce the travel restriction, the Minister ordered the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to immediately notify all local and international air carriers operating within the country’s airspace to block the affected individuals from boarding any flights.
Concurrently, Keyamo directed the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to step up health surveillance and emergency response frameworks across all international gateways.
Read also: Ebola in Abuja: NCDC identifies patient as diplomat with Bundibugyo Strain
The enhanced biosecurity protocols currently being implemented across airport terminals include mandatory temperature monitoring, digital health declaration profiling, travel history tracking, and direct inter-agency coordination with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and Port Health Services.
The joint aviation and public health intervention aims to prevent potential cross-border and inter-state transmission while contact tracing and isolation measures continue in the nation’s capital.
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Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha is the Aviation Correspondent at BusinessDay Media Limited, publishers of BusinessDay Newspapers. She is also the Deputy Editor, BusinessDay Weekender Magazine, the Saturday Weekend edition of BusinessDay. She holds a BSC in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters degree in Marketing at the University of Lagos. As the lead writer on the aviation desk, Ifeoma is responsible and in charge of the three weekly aviation and travel pages in BusinessDay and BDSunday. She also overseas and edits all pages of BusinessDay Saturday Weekender. She has written various investigative, features and news stories in aviation and business related issues and has been severally nominated for award in the category of Aviation Writer of the Year by the Nigeria Media Nite-Out awards; one of the Nigeria’s most prestigious media awards ceremonies. Ifeoma is a one-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award under the 'Aviation Writer of the Year' Category. She is the 2025 Eloy Award winner under the Print Media Journalist category. She has undergone several journalism trainings by various prestigious organisations. Ifeoma is also a fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.
