The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) yesterday issued another warning on the potential high risk of bringing the Sudan strain of Ebola virus disease (EVD) from Uganda into the country.
The Federal agency said its National Emerging Viral Haemorrhagic Disease Technical Working Group had assessed the risk of importing Ebola to Nigeria, saying this was high.
It said this is due to the large volume of air travels between Nigeria and Uganda and the interactions among such passengers, especially at the regional travel hubs of Nairobi, Addis Ababa, and Kigali airports.
The agency stressed that there is the additional risk of importing the disease from other neighbouring countries that share direct borders with Uganda, should cases arise in other countries in the region.
It advised Nigerians to desist from non-essential travels to Uganda for the meantime until public health authorities have determined the outbreak to be contained.
The NCDC alluded to the October 29, 2022 report by the Uganda Ministry of Health, which confirmed 128 cases of the disease and 34 deaths.
In a personal statement by the Director General of the NCDC, Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa, the agency assured Nigerians that it was keeping its eyes on the situation.
The NCDC said it had also taken several measures to prevent and mitigate the impact of a potential Ebola outbreak, including a heightened surveillance and screening at the points of entry, among other preventive measures.
The agency urged Nigerians to wash their hands frequently with soap and water or use hand sanitisers when soap and water are not readily available.
It also advised Nigerians to avoid physical contact with anyone who has symptoms of an infection with an unknown diagnosis.
The NCDC also urged healthcare workers to always adhere to standard precautions, especially in the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), and maintain a high index of suspicion.
It said: “Persons already in Nigeria but with recent travel history to or transit through Uganda within the past 21 days, who experience symptoms, such as fever, muscle pain, sore throat, diarrhoea, weakness, vomiting, stomach pain, or unexplained bleeding or bruising, should promptly call 6232 or state ministry of health hotlines for assessment and testing.
“Such persons should not visit health facilities by themselves to avoid further spread through the shared transport system (public or private). They would be visited at home by dedicated responders for assessment and transported through the designated transport arrangement to the designated treatment centre when required.
“Intending travellers to Nigeria with the above-stated symptoms before departure should not travel to Nigeria but call to report promptly to Port Health Authorities and/or designated health authorities in the country of departure for testing and care.
“Inbound travellers to Nigeria with a recent travel history to or through Uganda without symptoms on departure but who become unwell while on transit are required to avoid contact with people and to report to the Port Health Services on arrival at the point of entry to Nigeria…”
Also, the NCDC has reported seven new confirmed cases of Lassa fever from four states – Ondo (four), Edo (one), Ebonyi (one) and Cross River (one) – in one week, from October 17 to 23, 2022 (Week 42).
This brings the total number of confirmed cases since January this year to 948 from 26 states, with 7,077 suspected cases and 173 deaths.
The NCDC said of the confirmed cases, 71 per cent were from three states – Ondo (33 per cent), Edo (25 per cent), and Bauchi (13 per cent).
The predominant age group affected is between 21 to 30 years with median age of 30 years and male-to-female ratio for confirmed cases being 1:0.8.
The epidemiological report from the NCDC reads: “Cumulatively, from Week 1 to Week 42, 2022, 173 deaths have been reported with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 18.2 per cent, which is lower than the CFR for the same period in 2021 (22.2 per cent).
“In total for 2022, 26 states have recorded at least one confirmed case across 105 local government areas. The number of suspected cases has increased compared to that reported for the same period in 2021.
“No new healthcare worker was affected in the reporting Week 42. The National Lassa Fever multi-partner, multi-sectoral Technical Working Group (TWG) continues to coordinate the response activities at all levels.”
