Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has said that the chances of Ebola Virus being imported from Uganda or Democratic Republic of Congo into Nigeria are low as there are no direct routes from those countries to Nigeria.
The centre, in a statement on Sunday signed by its Director, Prevention and Programmes’ Coordination, Joshua Obasanya, said it reached conclusion after a preliminary risk assessment it conducted.
Mr Obasanya said the agency has been monitoring the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) following recent outbreak in Congo and Uganda.
“There are no direct commercial flights and no known direct trade routes to Nigeria from Uganda. The current transmission pathway of the disease in Uganda is through unmanned land borders and further away from the capitals of both Uganda and Nigeria.
“The NCDC is working closely with colleagues at the WHO Nigeria Country Office, who are in close contact with WHO African Region and Ministries of Health in Uganda and DR Congo, to determine the risk of spread to other African countries. Our multi-sectoral technical working group has heightened situational awareness on the ongoing outbreak in both countries,” he said.
Obasanya assured that the emergency team had put up measures to ensure adequate preparedness.
“Our team of national first responders are on standby and ready for deployment within 24 hours when the need arises. Public Health EOCs (PHEOCs) in States where major points of entry are located (Lagos, Kano, Abuja and Port Harcourt) are also on standby.
“We have improved point-of-entry screenings in major airports; the Port Health Services unit of the Federal Ministry of Health is on alert and has heightened screening measures at entry points at our ports, he said.
Nigeria was first hit with Ebola outbreak in 2014 after a Liberian diplomat, Patrick Sawyer, imported the virus on landing in Lagos airport.
