NCDC Approves ₦100,000 Weekly Support For Ebola Contacts In Isolation

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has approved an emergency payment of ₦100,000 per person weekly to support individuals placed in isolation or quarantine as authorities intensify efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak in the Federal Capital Territory.

According to Punch, the NCDC Director-General, Dr Jide Idris, disclosed this during a press briefing on Sunday, explaining that the intervention followed complaints from contacts about the cost of feeding, accommodation and maintaining their families while under public health monitoring.

“We are paying for their accommodation; we are paying for their feeding. Some of them are asking for a stipend to maintain their families,” he said.

He added, “We are providing N100,000 per person per week just to maintain their comfort and feeding, because they were complaining.”

Idris explained that the financial assistance was not part of the original response plan but became necessary because of the circumstances surrounding the outbreak.

“This was not planned for, but it is an emergency. We will continue to review it as we go along,” he said.

The NCDC chief also warned that the responsibility for supporting contacts should not rest solely on the FCT, urging other states to make adequate financial and logistical provisions to respond to similar emergencies.

“This is not the responsibility of the FCT alone. What we have to do for the FCT, we have to do for any other state, just in case,” he said.

According to Idris, state governments must be prepared to provide the resources required for contact tracing, isolation and other public health response activities within their jurisdictions.

The intervention comes as health authorities step up efforts to prevent further transmission following the confirmation of an imported Ebola case in Abuja on October 20.

Idris said Nigeria had recorded one confirmed case at the time of the briefing, with 53 primary contacts identified for monitoring. They include healthcare workers, household members, domestic staff and personnel involved in collecting samples from the patient.

He said the contacts were being classified according to their level of exposure and monitored by public health teams, while anyone who develops symptoms would be assessed and tested.

The agency has also established isolation arrangements for contacts who require them, with officials monitoring their health throughout the 21-day incubation period following their last possible exposure.

Idris disclosed that one contact who reported feeling unwell had tested negative, while surveillance and follow-up activities continued.

The NCDC is also strengthening infection prevention and control measures in healthcare facilities, training personnel and supporting the availability of protective equipment and laboratory supplies.

The confirmed case involves a woman who travelled to Nigeria from Uganda and tested positive for the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus. She developed symptoms on October 7, sought medical attention in Abuja on October 11 and was confirmed positive on October 20.

The World Health Organisation has identified the case as an imported infection, with investigations ongoing to establish the likely source of exposure.

The outbreak has also affected the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya, highlighting the importance of cross-border surveillance and the rapid identification of contacts.

Nigeria previously contained an Ebola outbreak in 2014 through case identification, contact tracing, isolation and coordinated public health measures.

Idris said the NCDC was drawing on lessons from that experience to strengthen preparedness across states, noting that containing the current outbreak would require cooperation among government agencies, healthcare workers, affected contacts and the wider public.

He urged Nigerians to rely on verified information, avoid spreading rumours and cooperate with public health officials conducting contact tracing and monitoring.