The President of the Academy of Medical Sciences, Professor Oladapo Ashiru, has called for mandatory Ebola contact tracing for all travellers, regardless of their political or social status, and permanent disease surveillance facilities across Nigeria’s 774 local government areas.
Speaking during an interview with ARISE News on Wednesday, Ashiru warned that exempting influential individuals from airport screening protocols could undermine efforts to contain the disease.
“They must recognise this and they must make it mandatory for every single person, no VIP, going to the airport to have that form done,It should be for communicable diseases, and there should be installations across the local government, not even state, to recognise this and maintain it,” Ashiru said.
The professor said universal contact tracing was essential because Ebola could take between two and 21 days to manifest clinical signs and symptoms.
“For example, at the airport now, we must have temperature scanners, because the incubation period for Ebola is between two to 21 days before it manifests in the clinical signs and symptoms. So somebody can escape through the airport, and 20 days after show the signs. So the contact tracing must be universal. There can be no exception to that issue,” he stated.
Ashiru called for a 21-day monitoring period for potentially exposed travellers, saying it would help establish when they were safe.
“But we have to have a 21-day window in which we can say that those people are now safe,” he said.
The medical expert advocated a permanent public health surveillance system covering communicable diseases, rather than temporary measures focused on individual outbreaks.
“I know there is a presidential task force on Ebola. This is a constant situation. It should not be for Ebola. It should be for communicable diseases, and there should be installations across the local government, not even state, to recognise this and maintain it,” Ashiru said.
He criticised the failure to sustain public health infrastructure established during previous Ebola and COVID-19 outbreaks, urging the government to maintain and adequately fund such facilities.
“That is something that the government needs to work on. The last time, we had a lot of preparation for Ebola and then also for COVID, but those things were not maintained. They have to be kept constant,” he said.
Ashiru added, “We need not to be a machine gun approach. We need to prepare things and make them ready and fund them regularly.”
Describing the reported Ebola case in Abuja as serious but manageable, the professor said the outcome would depend on the country’s response.
“The situation is very serious but it can be managed and the way we manage this depends on how we respond to this situation,” he said.
Ashiru commended the authorities for identifying and diagnosing the case, warning that a failure to recognise and isolate the infection could have worsened the situation.
“Now, so the level of preparedness, I can only give kudos to the fact that at least we’re able to recognise and diagnose these incidents in Abuja, because if they were not able to even recognise and isolate it, there would be more problems than we have today,” he stated.
On preventive measures, Ashiru urged Nigerians to avoid handshakes, hugging and unnecessary physical contact, recommending alternative ways of greeting people.
“So this is a time for Nigerians as the Academy of Medical Science has stressed to refrain from shaking hands and hugging. It is time to start greeting people like this, how are you, good morning, thank you, like the Indians do,” he said.
He advised Nigerians to wash their hands after returning home, use alcohol-based sanitisers and avoid contact with infected persons.
“Once you get to your house, wash your hands, have alcohol-based sanitisers, but majorly avoid contact. You don’t need the mask, but you need to avoid contact with infected persons,” Ashiru stated.
The professor warned that Nigeria’s large population and frequent social gatherings could make contact tracing more difficult if people ignored preventive measures.
“Because Nigeria is a very highly populated country, we have parties, we are a mixed society. So if you go to such places and you begin to shake hands with somebody that has just travelled, it will be difficult for us to do contact tracing in that situation,” he said.
Ashiru urged hospitals and private clinics to remain on high alert and promptly assess patients presenting with fever or other symptoms suspected to be associated with Ebola.
“And the next thing is that the hospitals, the private clinics must be on high alert in terms of once you recognise a case with fever or you suspect it, you have to be proactive in suspecting such cases,” he said.
He also cautioned healthcare workers to follow established procedures when removing protective equipment to reduce the risk of infection.
“One of the ways, especially to the health workers, they get infected by this is when they remove those protective garments. There are standard ways to remove them. So they must be careful to remove them, not touching the outside of those protective equipment,” Ashiru said.
The professor identified public awareness and healthcare workers’ ability to recognise suspected infections as essential components of the country’s preparedness.
“But the level of preparedness of a country depends on the level of information awareness to the public and to the health workers. Every health worker now should recognise this,” he stated.
Ashiru called for more confirmatory testing centres across Nigeria’s geopolitical zones to improve early detection and strengthen the country’s response capacity.
“Not just to be in Abuja, we need to multiply those confirmatory test centres in the same geographical zones. But it is a reliable test and it is something we can depend on,” he said.
He described public awareness as one of the most important tools for preventing transmission.
“The most important thing for us in Nigeria is awareness. When Nigerians are aware of a disorder or a disease like this, they take caution,” Ashiru said.
The medical expert also recommended installing handwashing facilities in public places and ensuring proper sanitisation before people entered buildings.
“So I’m advising that we, in the various public places, we instal a washing basin to wash your hands and do proper sanitising before going into such buildings and maintain proper hygiene,” he said.