The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has confirmed that Nigeria has no active Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) cases, while stepping up surveillance measures following fresh outbreaks in parts of Africa.
In a public health advisory issued on Sunday, the Director-General of the NCDC, Jide Idris, stated, “Nigeria currently has no confirmed case of Ebola Virus Disease”.
The advisory came in response to the recent outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a confirmed case reported in Uganda.
However, the agency said it is “closely monitoring the situation and working with relevant stakeholders, including the Port Health Service (Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare), to ensure continued vigilance and preparedness within the public health system,” according to the statement.
The NCDC urged Nigerians to remain calm, avoid spreading misinformation, and maintain strict preventive practices such as avoiding contact with bodily fluids of sick persons and practising regular hand hygiene.
It added that “Healthcare workers are advised to maintain a high index of suspicion for EVD in patients presenting with compatible symptoms and relevant travel or exposure history”.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Sunday declared an international health emergency over an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo that has already claimed more than 80 lives and has no available vaccine.
Concerns over wider spread intensified after a laboratory confirmed a case in Goma, a major eastern DRC city currently under the control of the Rwanda-backed M23 militia.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC Africa) reported 88 deaths and 336 suspected cases so far, describing the disease as highly contagious.
According to Professor Jean-Jacques Muyembe of the Congolese National Institute for Biomedical Research (INRB), the Goma case involved the wife of a man who died from Ebola in Bunia and who later travelled while already infected.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the situation as alarming, stating, “I determine that the epidemic constitutes a public health emergency of international concern,” while noting it does not yet meet pandemic criteria.