By Lateef Ibrahim
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has identified two additional suspected cases of Ebola virus disease alongside 53 primary contacts in Abuja, as health authorities intensify measures to prevent local transmission of the virus.
Disclosing the update during a press briefing on Sunday in Abuja, the Director-General of the NCDC, Dr. Jide Idris, announced that the Federal Government has also approved an emergency weekly allowance of N100,000 for each individual placed under isolation or quarantine.
Dr. Idris explained that the financial relief was introduced following complaints regarding the financial strain, accommodation costs, and family feeding expenses faced by individuals undergoing public health monitoring.
“We are paying for their accommodation; we are paying for their feeding. Some of them are asking for a stipend to maintain their families.
“We are providing N100,000 per person per week just to maintain their comfort and feeding because they were complaining,” Dr. Idris stated.
The NCDC boss admitted that while the financial package was not originally planned, it became a necessary emergency intervention to ensure full compliance with monitoring protocols without causing financial hardship to contacts.
He emphasized that state governments must also prepare their own logistical and financial arrangements should cases emerge within their borders.
“This was not planned for, but it is an emergency. We will continue to review it as we go along.
“This is not the responsibility of the FCT alone. What we have to do for the FCT, we have to do for any other state, just in case,” Idris said.
Outlining the latest surveillance statistics, Dr. Idris revealed that health teams have established dedicated isolation and quarantine facilities to manage suspected cases and exposed individuals.
“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 stated.
The 53 identified primary contacts include healthcare workers, household members, domestic staff, and laboratory personnel involved in collecting samples from the initial index patient.
Our correspondent reports that public health teams are currently categorizing these individuals by exposure level and maintaining daily health monitoring for 21 days from their last potential exposure date.
Dr. Idris noted that one contact who previously reported feeling unwell has tested negative, while surveillance teams continue to investigate any emerging symptoms among monitored individuals.
The ongoing public health response follows the confirmation on October 20 of an imported Ebola case in Abuja.
The confirmed patient, a woman who traveled to Nigeria from Uganda, tested positive for the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus.
She initially developed symptoms on October 7, sought medical attention in Abuja on October 11, and had her diagnosis confirmed by laboratory tests on October 20.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has categorized the incident as an imported infection, with joint investigations ongoing to determine the exact source of exposure in the region, which has also reported cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya.
To ensure rapid response, Dr. Idris announced that about 12 public and private laboratories across Nigeria are currently equipped to perform Ebola testing.
He called on healthcare facilities nationwide—both public and private—to enforce strict screening, triage, and infection prevention and control (IPC) protocols, while ensuring frontline health workers are adequately equipped with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
Recalling Nigeria’s successful containment of the 2014 Ebola outbreak through rapid contact tracing and coordinated isolation, Dr. Idris expressed confidence that drawing on those lessons will ensure the current outbreak is swiftly contained.
He appealed to the public to cooperate with health officials, report symptoms promptly, avoid spreading unverified rumors, and rely strictly on official communications from health authorities.
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