The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has said the country has stepped up nationwide surveillance and emergency preparedness measures against Ebola Virus Disease amid the growing outbreak in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
This was contained in a fresh public health advisory issued by the Director-General of the NCDC, Jide Idris, on Sunday.
The agency said Nigeria has not recorded any confirmed case linked to the ongoing regional outbreak but warned that the risk of importation remains high because of international travel, population movement and the scale of transmission in affected East African countries.
The agency said its latest risk assessment identified border communities, major transport hubs and international points of entry as high-risk areas requiring enhanced monitoring.
“This assessment estimated the risk of Ebola importation into Nigeria as high due to the ongoing transmission in the DRC and Uganda, international travel and population movement, uncertainty regarding the full magnitude of the outbreak, and the potential for delayed recognition because symptoms may overlap with endemic diseases such as malaria and Lassa fever,” the advisory stated.
The NCDC said the National Emergency Operations Centre has been placed on alert mode, while the National Incident Management System has been activated with clear reporting and escalation pathways to coordinate response activities nationwide.