By Hosanna Eseose
The Federal Government has quarantined high-risk contacts of Nigeria’s imported Ebola virus disease case as laboratory results indicate that the infected patient is showing signs of improvement.
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The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Pate, disclosed this on Thursday during a press briefing in Abuja, saying the government had activated its emergency response mechanisms to prevent the disease from spreading into communities.
Pate said the patient, who arrived in Nigeria without symptoms, developed them a few days after arrival and was subsequently diagnosed with the disease.
“Thankfully, that individual is being taken care of and, in fact, is recovering. Today, I spoke to the clinicians, and I understand that laboratory results are showing great improvement. There is a possibility that she would recover from this,” he said.
He, however, cautioned that the government would not take anything for granted, adding that efforts were ongoing to ensure the patient’s recovery and prevent further transmission.
According to the minister, contact tracing commenced immediately after confirmation of the case, covering contacts at the hospital, domestic contacts and a private clinic the patient had visited.
He explained that the contacts had been categorised according to their risk levels, with high-risk individuals quarantined in a designated facility and others isolated in line with public health guidelines.
“We have traced the contacts and identified those in the hospital, domestic contacts and the private clinic that she had attended,” he said.
Pate added that the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) was coordinating the operational response in collaboration with the Federal Capital Territory Administration and other relevant agencies.
He said the government had also activated the incident management system and intensified engagement with state governments to strengthen preparedness and ensure a coordinated national response.
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According to him, the President has provided additional resources to the NCDC, while funds have also been mobilised domestically to support the outbreak response.
The minister said the Federal Government had briefed the Presidential Task Force, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and the National Economic Council to ensure political and institutional support for the response.
He added that all state governments had been informed, with those yet to complete their Ebola response plans directed to do so urgently.
Pate further disclosed that the government was working with Professor Christian Happi, a renowned genomics expert at Redeemer’s University, Ede, to complement the NCDC’s efforts in investigating the virus.
He said the collaboration would help strengthen the country’s capacity to understand the virus and guide the response using scientific evidence.
The minister noted that Nigeria had the public health capacity to diagnose the case within 24 hours of being notified by health authorities and had subsequently informed the World Health Organisation.
He also said international partners, including the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the WHO, were supporting the response.
Pate explained that the immediate priority was to contain the imported case and prevent transmission into the wider population.
He urged Nigerians to cooperate with contact-tracing teams, comply with isolation and quarantine instructions, and seek immediate medical attention if they developed symptoms such as fever, headache or muscle aches, particularly after relevant travel.
He also directed hospitals to prepare isolation beds and strengthen infection prevention and control measures, while urging private healthcare providers to promptly engage public health authorities when they suspect cases.
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The minister said Nigeria had successfully managed Ebola in the past and expressed confidence in the country’s response capacity.
He stressed, however, that the situation remained under close monitoring and that recommendations would be reviewed as new evidence emerged.