• Patient recovering as authorities quarantine high-risk contacts
•FG directs agencies to intensify nationwide enlightenment
Emmanuel Addeh, Onyebuchi Ezigbo, Olawale Ajimotokan and Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja
The federal government yesterday stepped up efforts to contain Nigeria’s Ebola outbreak, mobilising additional resources, activating emergency response structures and intensifying contact tracing and public enlightenment.
This was as the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) declared that the N10 billion approved for the emergency response has remained untouched.
Also, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, said the infected woman was recovering, with laboratory results showing significant improvement, while health authorities had traced 44 contacts and quarantined those considered to be at high risk.
The government also appealed to Nigerians to avoid spreading misinformation or politicising the outbreak, as the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, directed federal information agencies to intensify public awareness campaigns across the country.
Briefing journalists in Abuja after updating the National Economic Council (NEC), chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima, Pate said the government had activated the national emergency response system and mobilised resources to prevent the isolated case from developing into a wider outbreak.
He said President Bola Tinubu had released additional resources to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), alongside funding available to states through the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund.
Pate said the Incident Management System had been activated, with the NCDC coordinating the day-to-day national response in collaboration with the Federal Capital Territory authorities. The Presidential Task Force on Ebola had also been briefed, while the Nigeria Governors’ Forum received an update on the situation.
“We all are aware that Nigeria picked up one important case of Ebola virus disease. Thankfully, that individual has been taken care of and in fact is recovering. Today I spoke to clinicians and I understand that lab results are showing great improvement and there is a possibility that she will recover,” he said.
According to the minister, the woman was asymptomatic when she arrived in Nigeria from Uganda but developed symptoms several days later. Authorities initiated contact tracing after the infection was confirmed, he added.
He said contacts had been identified at the hospital, a private clinic and among the patient’s domestic associates, with those exposed categorised according to their risk levels. High-risk contacts have also been placed in quarantine, while others were isolated and monitored.
Pate said all states had been notified, with most already developing response plans with NCDC guidance. States yet to complete their plans have also been directed to do so promptly.
Pate added that the federal government was adopting a whole-of-government approach, involving the aviation ministry and other agencies under the coordination of the Chief of Staff to the President.
The minister said the speed of the response demonstrated the country’s capacity to detect and manage public health emergencies, noting that the case was diagnosed within 24 hours of authorities being informed and the World Health Organisation subsequently notified.
He disclosed that the government would undertake genomic sequencing of the virus with support from Prof. Christian Happi of the Africa Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases at Redeemer’s University, Ede.
Development partners, including the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organisation (WHO), had been briefed and were supporting the response. Experienced personnel were also arriving from Kenya to assist, he said.
Pate urged Nigerians to remain calm, observe hand hygiene, avoid contact with body fluids and cooperate with contact tracers. He said there was no evidence of community transmission and no current need to alter public gatherings, adding that recommendations would be reviewed as new evidence emerged.
He also said the patient’s test had returned positive on three occasions but declined to make the results public, citing patient confidentiality.
But amid questions over the government’s preparedness and the management of emergency funds, the APC Presidential Campaign Council said the N10 billion approved by Tinubu in June remained unspent.
In a statement issued yesterday by its spokesperson, Dele Alake, the council said the NCDC, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and other agencies involved in surveillance had been using other available resources to manage the response.
Alake said the surveillance system had helped alert the authorities to the index case and facilitated the identification of the patient’s 44 contacts.
He criticised former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over comments questioning the expenditure of the N10 billion and linking the President’s first name to the outbreak, arguing that public health concerns should not be used for political attacks.
Alake also defended the failure to detect the infection at the Abuja airport, explaining that Ebola’s incubation period ranges from two to 21 days and that infected persons do not transmit the virus before developing symptoms.
He urged opposition politicians to support the authorities and communicate responsibly, dismissing suggestions that official briefings on the outbreak were intended to discourage attendance at campaign rallies or voting.
He said: “Vice President Atiku cannot make such a serious allegation without verifiable evidence, especially in the thick of electioneering.”
Separately, Idris directed the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Nigerian Television Authority, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Voice of Nigeria and News Agency of Nigeria to intensify public enlightenment on Ebola prevention, transmission and reporting procedures.
The minister instructed the agencies to work with the health ministry and NCDC to ensure that messages were accurate, consistent with public health guidance and disseminated in Nigerian languages to reach communities nationwide.
“The federal government is taking every necessary step to contain this case and protect Nigerians. Accurate and timely information is one of our strongest defences. Our agencies must reach every community, in every language, with clear facts on how Ebola spreads, how to protect ourselves and where to report suspected cases,”Idris said.
He specifically tasked the NOA with deploying its network of offices to conduct grassroots sensitisation in collaboration with traditional and religious leaders, community organisations and the media.
Idris urged Nigerians to avoid circulating unverified information on social media and to rely on official sources for updates. Members of the public were also advised to report suspected cases through the NCDC’s toll-free, 24-hour emergency line, 6232.
The coordinated measures come as the federal government seeks to contain the confirmed infection, trace exposed persons and prevent further transmission, while urging public cooperation and responsible communication.