Nigeria’s health authorities have assured citizens that the country remains free of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) despite growing concerns over a deadly outbreak spreading across parts of Central Africa.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) said on Sunday that no confirmed Ebola case has been recorded anywhere in the country, following fresh outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and neighbouring Uganda.
In a public health advisory, NCDC Director-General Jide Idris stated that the agency was intensifying surveillance and preparedness measures to prevent any possible importation of the virus into Nigeria.
“Nigeria currently has no confirmed case of Ebola Virus Disease,” the agency said, while urging the public to remain calm and avoid circulating false information about the disease.
The NCDC disclosed that it is working closely with the Port Health Service under the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, alongside other relevant agencies, to strengthen monitoring at the country’s borders and points of entry.
Health officials also advised Nigerians to maintain strict hygiene practices, including regular hand washing and avoiding contact with bodily fluids of sick persons or suspected carriers of the virus.
Healthcare workers across the country were urged to maintain a high level of alertness, especially when treating patients with symptoms linked to Ebola who may also have a relevant travel or exposure history.
The reassurance from Nigeria came as the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo an international public health emergency after the disease claimed more than 80 lives.
The outbreak has sparked renewed fears after health authorities confirmed a case in Goma, a major eastern Congolese city currently under the control of the Rwanda-backed M23 militia.
According to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), at least 88 deaths and 336 suspected Ebola cases have been reported so far.
Professor Jean-Jacques Muyembe, Director of the Congolese National Institute for Biomedical Research, revealed that the confirmed Goma case involved the wife of a man who had died from Ebola in Bunia.
“She travelled to Goma after her husband’s death while already infected,” Muyembe told AFP.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the situation as deeply concerning, officially designating the outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern.”
However, he clarified that the outbreak has not yet reached the threshold of a global pandemic under existing international health regulations.
