The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has raised fresh concerns over the possibility of an Ebola outbreak in Nigeria, warning that the country faces a high risk of importing the deadly virus due to ongoing outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the Director-General of the agency, Jide Idris, said although no case of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) has been recorded in Nigeria, the agency has intensified nationwide surveillance and preparedness measures to prevent a potential outbreak.
According to the NCDC, its latest risk assessment shows that increasing cross-border movement, international travel, and continued transmission of the disease in affected countries significantly heighten Nigeria’s vulnerability.
The agency also noted that uncertainty surrounding the true scale of the outbreaks in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, coupled with the similarity of Ebola symptoms to malaria and Lassa fever, could lead to delayed detection of imported cases.
The NCDC disclosed that states considered vulnerable because of their proximity to international borders, major transport corridors, and entry points had been placed under heightened surveillance.
It further revealed that response activities were ongoing in affected regions, including contact tracing, laboratory testing, infection prevention measures, and public sensitisation campaigns.
As part of efforts to strengthen emergency preparedness, the agency said Nigeria’s National Emergency Operations Centre had been placed on alert mode, while the incident management system had been activated to improve coordination in the event of an outbreak.
The NCDC added that Nigeria still retains critical capacities developed from previous public health emergencies, including trained rapid response teams, functional emergency operations centres, and laboratories equipped to handle viral haemorrhagic diseases.
The agency also stated that laboratories in states with international entry points had been placed on standby, while public awareness campaigns had been intensified to combat misinformation and false claims surrounding Ebola.
