NCDC approves ₦100,000 weekly allowance for Ebola contacts, identifies two more suspected cases

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has approved a weekly payment of N100,000 per person for people in isolation or quarantine in the Ebola response in the Federal Capital Territory, the agency’s director-general, Dr Jide Idris, said at a press briefing in Abuja on Sunday monitored by the Daily Trust.

Idris said some contacts had complained about the cost of feeding, accommodation and supporting their families while complying with monitoring. The agency already pays for their accommodation and food, and the stipend is meant to ease the burden. “This was not planned for, but it is an emergency,” he said, adding that the arrangement will be reviewed as the response continues.

He said the burden should not fall on the FCT alone, and urged other states to make financial and logistical provisions for contact tracing and isolation in case of similar outbreaks.

On the response itself, Idris said the NCDC had established two additional suspected cases and 53 primary contacts. The contacts include healthcare workers, household members, domestic staff and staff who collected samples from the patient. They have been documented and categorised by exposure level. None had tested positive or developed symptoms at the time of the briefing. “We have an isolation centre and a quarantine centre,” he said.

He said the agency had also investigated a suspected case in Rivers State that tested negative. Contacts are being monitored through the 21-day incubation period, and anyone who develops symptoms will be tested promptly.

Nigeria confirmed its imported Ebola case in Abuja on October 20.