From Victor Osula, Abuja
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDCP) has placed Lagos, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Rivers, Kano and several other states on maximum Ebola preparedness alert following fears that the deadly Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) could spread into Nigeria amid escalating outbreaks in East and Central Africa.
In a nationwide public health advisory issued on Thursday to Commissioners for Health across the 36 states and the FCT, the NCDCP warned that Nigeria now faces a “HIGH” risk of importing the virus due to regional transmission, international travel, porous borders and expanding trade routes across Africa.
The alert follows the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) declaration of the outbreak as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), which signals heightened global concern and the urgent need for countries to strengthen emergency preparedness systems.
Although no confirmed Ebola case has been detected in Nigeria, the NCDCP said its Dynamic Risk Assessment conducted with development partners after the WHO declaration showed that the country remains vulnerable because of heavy cross-border movement, international air travel and weak border surveillance along informal entry points.
According to the advisory, 1,077 suspected Ebola cases and 247 deaths have already been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, with the outbreak currently recording a case fatality rate of about 24.6 percent.
“The overall risk of importation of the disease into Nigeria has been assessed as HIGH due to increasing ongoing regional transmission, international travel, regional population movement, major airports, seaports, porous land borders, informal crossings and trade routes”, the NCDC stated.
The agency directed all states and the FCT to immediately activate comprehensive preparedness measures to ensure rapid detection, swift isolation and effective containment of any suspected Ebola case before community transmission occurs.
“The immediate objective of our national preparedness and readiness efforts is to ensure that every State and the FCT can reasonably detect, contain and respond swiftly to any suspected case while protecting health workers and sustaining essential health services”, the advisory added.
As part of its preparedness framework, the NCDC classified Lagos, FCT, Rivers, Kano, Enugu, Borno, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Taraba and Adamawa as high-risk states because of their international airports, seaports, trade corridors, porous borders and intense population movement.
The agency warned that states in the highest risk category must aggressively scale up surveillance, laboratory readiness, infection prevention systems and isolation capacity in both public and private healthcare facilities.
The advisory further warned that the Bundibugyo Ebola strain currently spreading in the region has no approved vaccine or specific treatment, making early public health intervention and strict infection prevention measures the country’s strongest line of defence.
The NCDCP also cautioned that currently available Ebola vaccines and monoclonal antibody therapies were largely developed for the Zaire Ebola strain and may not provide reliable protection against the Bundibugyo variant.
While stressing that Ebola is not airborne, the agency explained that transmission occurs through direct contact with infected blood, body fluids, contaminated surfaces or infected animals.
Health workers across the country were advised to maintain a high level of suspicion, particularly when treating patients presenting with fever and related symptoms that could easily be mistaken for malaria, Lassa fever or other common febrile illnesses.
“Health workers must not wait for bleeding before suspecting Ebola in any patient with compatible symptoms and relevant travel or exposure history”, the advisory warned.
Symptoms listed by the NCDC include fever, fatigue, severe headache, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, rash, hiccups, unexplained bleeding and signs of shock.
The agency disclosed that its National Emergency Operations Centre has already been activated in alert mode to coordinate preparedness efforts nationwide, with a focus on surveillance, case management, infection prevention and control, safe sample handling, risk communication and emergency response coordination.
State governments were also directed to immediately ensure operational readiness across healthcare facilities, including functional contact-tracing systems, designated isolation centres and adequate protection for frontline medical personnel.
According to the NCDCP, preparedness efforts must prioritise early detection, immediate isolation, optimised supportive care, strict infection prevention and control, safe sample handling, contact-tracing readiness and sustained public awareness campaigns.
The agency assured Nigerians that it is working closely with state governments and development partners to strengthen the country’s emergency preparedness architecture and prevent any possible importation or spread of the disease.
However, it warned that sustained vigilance, rapid funding and strict compliance with public health measures would determine how effectively Nigeria can contain any potential outbreak if the virus eventually crosses into the country.
Public health observers note that Nigeria’s successful containment of the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Lagos remains one of the country’s strongest advantages, but warn that the scale of regional movement and weak border controls now pose fresh challenges to national preparedness efforts.
