Ebola: NCDC records one new suspected case, tracks 54 contacts

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has recorded a new suspected Ebola case involving an Uber driver who transported the evacuated index patient to an earlier hospital in Abuja, bringing the number of primary contacts being monitored to 54.

The Director-General of the NCDC, Dr Jide Idris, disclosed this on Monday while speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, saying the new contact was identified after health officials obtained additional information about the patient’s movements before her diagnosis.

Idris said the new development underscored the need for continued surveillance and contact tracing, despite the medical evacuation of the index patient and her husband to Switzerland.

“As it is now, yesterday was 54, right? One has left; the index case has left, so we had 53. Today, we got one more suspected case contact, who actually was the Uber driver who drove her before to the first hospital,” he said.

The NCDC boss explained that health authorities were monitoring the identified contacts for 21 days, corresponding to the maximum incubation period used for Ebola contact monitoring.

He said more than 40 contacts were in quarantine facilities in Abuja, while six others were under home-based self-quarantine because their risk of infection was considered low.

According to him, those under home quarantine were being contacted regularly, with their temperatures monitored in the morning and evening to detect any changes in their clinical condition.

Idris disclosed that three people who were retested after developing symptoms or showing changes in their clinical condition returned negative results.

He, however, warned that Nigeria was not yet out of danger, as health officials were still identifying and tracing contacts who might have been exposed through the primary contacts.

“We are not out of the woods yet until we are sure that all the contacts have been followed up. Because the index case is out doesn’t mean that we don’t have an active positive case,” he said.

The NCDC director-general clarified that Nigeria currently had no confirmed active Ebola case following the evacuation of the index patient, but stressed that contact monitoring and investigations remained critical to preventing further transmission.

He said health officials would systematically trace secondary contacts as more information emerged from interviews with those already identified.

Idris urged anyone who might have had contact with a suspected Ebola case or possessed relevant information to contact the nearest public health facility or call the NCDC’s toll-free hotline, 6232.

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The hotline, he said, was manned round the clock to receive reports and provide assistance.

On concerns over the evacuation of the patient to Switzerland, the NCDC chief dismissed suggestions that the decision reflected a lack of confidence in Nigeria’s healthcare system.

He maintained that Nigeria had competent infectious disease specialists and healthcare professionals capable of managing Ebola cases.

According to him, additional experts who participated in containing the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Lagos had been mobilised to support the current response, assess healthcare facilities and train personnel in infection prevention and control.

Idris also clarified that the Swiss government was responsible for the air ambulance used to evacuate the patient and her husband, noting that the patient had shown clinical improvement before the evacuation.

On reports that the government would pay ₦100,000 weekly to people in quarantine, the NCDC boss said the support was being considered on compassionate grounds to address the needs of contacts who had been removed from their normal environments.

He explained that some contacts had complained about their inability to attend to their families and businesses while in quarantine, with some threatening to leave the facilities.

Idris said the government had to provide feeding, accommodation and other necessary support to ensure that contacts complied with public health measures throughout the monitoring period.

He added that quarantine facilities were ordinarily the responsibility of state governments, but the Federal Government had intervened to address immediate concerns.

The NCDC chief further disclosed that the government had approved a ₦10 billion intervention fund to strengthen preparedness and control measures for Ebola and other endemic diseases.

He said the fund would support the procurement of personal protective equipment, laboratory reagents and consumables, surveillance activities, contact tracing, transportation and other operational requirements.

Idris explained that the funding request predated the confirmation of the imported Ebola case and was initially intended to strengthen the country’s response to endemic diseases, including Lassa fever.

He said several treatment and isolation centres across the country required rehabilitation to ensure they were ready to manage infectious disease outbreaks.

The NCDC director-general also dismissed suggestions that the Ebola outbreak was being used as a political tool ahead of the 2027 general elections.

“We in the health sector will not use disease issues as a political weapon, and there will not be any postponement of the election on the case of Ebola,” he said.

Idris added that Nigeria had been monitoring the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo before the imported case was detected, given the risks associated with international travel and population movement.

He said surveillance at ports of entry and other containment measures remained necessary while authorities continued to assess the situation.