Nigeria has stepped up border surveillance and screening to prevent Ebola importation after a new outbreak in DR Congo killed 16 people.
ABUJA — The Federal Government has intensified border screening and monitoring following the outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Kasai Province, where 28 suspected cases and 16 deaths, including four health workers, have been reported.
The Director of Port Health Services, Dr Akpan Nse, told Saturday PUNCH that surveillance had been scaled up across all entry points. “We have intensified surveillance at all points of entry—airports, land borders, and seaports. Every inbound traveller coming from Congo to Nigeria is thoroughly screened,” he said. He added that new staff were recruited with WHO support, while thermal scanners at airports were being maintained through public-private partnerships.
The World Health Organization has released \$500,000 from its Contingency Fund for Emergencies to support the DRC response. WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the UN agency had deployed rapid response teams, equipment, and vaccines to the outbreak zone. “We had previously prepositioned 2000 doses of Ebola vaccine in Kinshasa, which we are releasing to vaccinate contacts and health workers,” he disclosed.
Health experts in Nigeria, including Dr Oladipo Kolawole of Adeleke University and Dr Moses Adewumi of the University of Ibadan, urged vigilance. Kolawole said, “Everybody coming into the country, especially from DR Congo, must declare where they are coming from… I’m very sure all institutions are on ground to handle things.”
Dr Iorhen Akase of LUTH stressed that community vigilance was crucial: “If you have somebody in your community who is ill, let them go to the hospital.”