The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has identified two additional suspected cases of Ebola virus disease and traced 53 primary contacts as health authorities intensify efforts to prevent further spread following the country’s latest confirmed infection.
Key Highlights
- NCDC identifies two more suspected Ebola cases and 53 primary contacts.
- Isolation and quarantine centres have been set up.
- Results for the two new suspected cases have not been disclosed.
- About 12 public and private laboratories in Nigeria can test for Ebola.
- Contacts will be monitored for 21 days from their last possible exposure.
Director-General of the NCDC, Dr. Jide Idris, disclosed this during a press briefing in Abuja on Sunday.
Idris said the agency has made provisions for isolation and quarantine as part of measures to contain the potential spread of the deadly virus.
“We have established two additional suspected cases and 53 primary contact links. They are primary contacts. We have an isolation centre and a quarantine centre,” he said.
The development comes days after a 42-year-old Ugandan-born woman residing in Abuja tested positive for Ebola on October 20, marking Nigeria’s first confirmed case in more than a decade.
The emergence of additional suspected cases has heightened concerns over the possibility of further infections, although the NCDC has not disclosed the test results of the two newly identified suspected cases.
Labs, Surveillance Strengthened
Idris said Nigeria has approximately 12 public and private laboratories equipped to test for Ebola, adding that the agency was strengthening laboratory capacity and surveillance systems to ensure suspected infections were promptly investigated.
He urged public and private health facilities to strengthen screening, triage and infection prevention measures while ensuring that healthcare workers had adequate personal protective equipment.
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21-Day Contact Monitoring
According to him, public health teams have also been deployed to identify and monitor people who may have been exposed to the confirmed case.
The monitoring period will last 21 days from each contact’s last possible exposure, in line with the established Ebola surveillance period.
Idris appealed to people contacted by health officials to cooperate with contact-tracing teams by providing accurate information about their movements, interactions and any symptoms they might develop.
The confirmed patient and her husband had travelled to Uganda earlier in October.
Her husband is reportedly in isolation but has not developed symptoms, according to information attributed to the Swiss foreign ministry.
Ebola virus disease is a severe and often fatal illness that can spread through direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an infected person, or contaminated materials.
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