NCDC Says No Ebola Case In Nigeria, Activates Emergency Surveillance

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The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has cleared the country of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), saying there are no confirmed cases of the disease in the country. 

In a public health advisory issued on Sunday, the Director-General of the NCDC, Jide Idris, said, “Nigeria currently has no confirmed case of Ebola Virus Disease”.

The advisory followed the outbreak of the disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a recently confirmed case in Uganda.

But it said the agency and other stakeholders are “closely monitoring the situation and working with relevant stakeholders, including the Port Health Service (Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare), to ensure continued vigilance and preparedness within the public health system,” the advisory read in part.

The NCDC asked Nigerians to be calm, avoid spreading misinformation about the disease, and maintain preventive measures like avoiding contact with bodily fluids of sick persons and regular hand hygiene, among others.

“Healthcare workers are advised to maintain a high index of suspicion for EVD in patients presenting with compatible symptoms and relevant travel or exposure history,” it said.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization declared an international health emergency on Sunday over an outbreak of an Ebola strain in the Democratic Republic of Congo that has killed more than 80 and for which there is no vaccine.

Fears of further spread grew when a laboratory on Sunday confirmed a case in the major eastern DRC city of Goma, which is controlled by the Rwanda-backed M23 militia.

A total of 88 deaths and 336 suspected cases of the highly contagious haemorrhagic fever have so far been reported, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC Africa) said in an update on Saturday.

“A positive case in Goma has been confirmed by tests carried out by the laboratory. It involves the wife of a man who died of Ebola in Bunia, who travelled to Goma after her husband’s death whilst already infected,” Professor Jean-Jacques Muyembe, director of the Congolese National Institute for Biomedical Research (INRB), told AFP.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed deep disquiet as the reported cases rose.

“I determine that the epidemic constitutes a public health emergency of international concern,” Ghebreyesus posted to X, albeit adding that as yet it “does not meet the criteria of pandemic emergency” as defined by existing international health regulations (IHR).