ABUJA: (News Desk) – Nigeria has expanded its Ebola surveillance efforts after identifying nine additional contacts of the country’s only confirmed case, bringing the total number of primary contacts under monitoring to 53, health authorities said on Sunday.
Jide Idris, head of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), said the number had increased from 44 as officials intensified efforts to identify people who may have been exposed to the virus.
The confirmed patient is a 42-year-old woman whose husband works at the Swiss embassy in Abuja. She had travelled to Uganda with her husband before returning to Nigeria and subsequently falling ill. She is receiving treatment and remains the country’s only confirmed case, according to the authorities.
The initial 44 contacts were healthcare workers. The nine additional contacts include more medical personnel, members of the woman’s family and household staff, Idris said.
A suspected Ebola case reported in Rivers State, in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region, tested negative, the NCDC chief told reporters.
Nigerian authorities have introduced enhanced health screening for international arrivals as concerns grow over the wider outbreak affecting parts of Africa. However, an AFP reporter observed that screening at the land border with Benin relied on general health forms asking about fever, without specifically mentioning Ebola or including temperature checks. Another reporter observed temperature checks at a beach resort near Lagos, while domestic flights were not conducting screening at the time of reporting.
The World Health Organization has described the situation in Africa as a complex Ebola outbreak, with cases reported in western, eastern and central parts of the continent.
Nigeria reported an imported case of the Bundibugyo strain last week, linked to an outbreak originating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). There is currently no approved vaccine or specific treatment for the Bundibugyo strain, making early detection, isolation and contact tracing important public health measures.
The DRC has recorded more than 4,600 deaths since declaring its 17th Ebola outbreak in May, according to the supplied report. Uganda has reported 20 cases, including two deaths, although the World Health Organization has officially declared the country Ebola-free. Uganda announced on Sunday that nationals returning from the DRC would be required to undergo 21 days of quarantine.
Kenya has also reported two deaths this month. The first involved a Kenyan man who had been living in the DRC and died after returning home, while the second was a close contact of the man. As of Friday, seven Ebola patients were in isolation in Kenya, authorities said.
Ebola spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person or contaminated materials and can cause severe illness, including haemorrhagic fever. Health authorities across the affected countries are continuing surveillance, isolation and contact-tracing measures to limit further transmission.
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