•Passengers from Uganda placed on 21-day watchlist
Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
Nigeria has rolled out further measures aimed at forestalling and containing any outbreak of the deadly Ebola Virus disease in the country.
Owing to this, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the lead agency on infectious disease control has issued a health advisory urging Nigerian citizens and residents to avoid all but essential travel to Uganda for now until the outbreak on Ebola in the country is contained.
It advised that in a situation where travel to Uganda is unavoidable, travellers should avoid contact with obviously sick persons or suspected cases of Ebola during their stay.
A statement issued yesterday and signed by the Director General of NCDC, Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa, stated that the Port Health Services of the Federal Ministry of Health has scaled up the screening of passengers returning from Uganda at point of entries.
The statement added: “Travellers to Nigeria with recent travel history to Uganda and persons already in Nigeria but with recent travel history to or transit through Uganda within the past 21 days who experience symptoms such as fever, muscle pain, sore throat, diarrhoea, weakness, vomiting, stomach pain, or unexplained bleeding or bruising should promptly call 6232 or state ministry of health hotlines for assessment and testing.”
Nigeria had earlier issued health advisory following declaration of Ebola Virus outbreak on September 20.
As of October 29, 2022, the Uganda Ministry of Health had reported 128 confirmed cases and 34 deaths.
The NCDC stated that based on available data and risk assessment conducted, Nigeria was at high risk of importing the virus.
“This risk is due to the large volume of air travel between Nigeria and Uganda and the mixing of passengers, especially at the regional travel hubs of Nairobi, Addis Ababa, and Kigali airports and the additional risk from other neighbouring countries that share a direct border with Uganda should cases arise in other countries in the region.
“The outputs from this risk assessment are being used to initiate preparedness activities in country,” it said.
The NCDC DG stated that several measures had been put in place to prevent and mitigate the impact of a potential EVD outbreak in Nigeria.
According to the NCDC boss, the Incident Coordination Centre (ICC) was now in alert mode, while the development of an incident action plan for the first few cases of Ebola has commenced.
He also said surveillance has been heightened using the passenger pre-boarding health declaration and screening form in the Nigeria International Travel Portal (NITP) platform.
He added that passengers arriving from Uganda and persons who transited in Uganda were being followed up for 21 days after they arrived in Nigeria for their health status.
In addition, Adetifa disclosed that trained Rapid Response Teams are on standby to be deployed in the event of an outbreak.
“All state Public Health Emergency Operations Centres (PHEOCs) are in alert mode. A medical countermeasures plan is available. Amplification of risk communication and engagement with states and partners to strengthen preparedness activities which include– a review of risk communication protocols, plans, and messages in the event of an outbreak,” he said.
Ebola virus can be transmitted via direct contact with bodily fluids of a person who is sick or died from EVD. The virus can enter the body stream through broken skin or mucous membranes in the eyes, nose, or mouth.
This could also be spread through contact with objects contaminated by infected persons as well as direct contact with the blood, body fluids and tissues of infected fruit bats, monkeys, or chimpanzees.
Just like other types of Ebola virus, people infected with the Sudan strain cannot spread the disease until the development of symptoms.
Symptoms may appear anywhere from 2 to 21 days after exposure to the virus but are typically 8 to 10 days on average.
Symptoms include: Fever, Fatigue, Muscle pain, Headache, Sore throat, Vomiting, Diarrhoea, Rash, Impaired kidney and liver function
To prevent the spread of Ebola, the NCDC advised members of the public to adhere to endure hand washing using soap and water or use hand sanitisers.
