Nigeria’s Centre for Disease Control says the country has no confirmed or suspected Ebola case, but health officials are stepping up preparedness as cases spread in parts of Central and East Africa.
Speaking at an interview with Arise News on Thursday, acting director of disease prevention and health promotion at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Tochi Okwor, said Nigeria moved into “alert mode” after reviewing the Ebola situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.
Okwor said preparedness was an ongoing process and not a one-time action.
“Even though we currently do not have a confirmed case of Ebola disease in the country, and we also do not have a suspect case of Ebola disease in Nigeria, it told us that we must be on alert, because we do run a risk of having cases coming to Nigeria,” she said.
She said the agency had carried out what she described as a “dynamic risk assessment” with health experts and partners to review the threat level and decide on immediate actions.
According to her, port health authorities have started tighter checks at entry points, while health officials are also reviewing isolation centres, laboratory readiness and emergency response plans.
“A lot of assessments are going on at the ports. Where can we put this patient if we have a suspect case today? Do we have a place we can isolate these people? Are our protocols up to date?” she said.
Okwor also said surveillance across the country had been strengthened to help health workers quickly detect possible cases.
“The way we can detect is when everybody in Nigeria, particularly health workers, at all levels of the system, have heightened index of suspicion,” she said.
She said early symptoms of Ebola could appear similar to malaria or typhoid.
“The symptoms of the Ebola disease, they will start out really like the usual symptoms one will feel when you have malaria — headache, fever — but it then quickly evolves,” she said.
She added that severe cases could lead to internal or external bleeding.
During the interview, Okwor praised Nigerian health workers and paid tribute to late doctor Ameyo Stella Adadevoh for her role during the 2014 Ebola outbreak.
“We continue to remember and honour Dr Stella Adadevoh for the supreme sacrifice that she made for this country,” she said.
On testing capacity, Okwor said the NCDC was strengthening selected laboratories in states with major airports and land borders, alongside the national reference laboratories in Abuja and Lagos.
“We have identified, using a risk-based approach, where we can have testing done immediately if a case comes into Nigeria,” she said.
Ademide Adebayo
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