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The Federal Government has confirmed an imported case of Ebola virus disease in the Federal Capital Territory.
Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, announced the development at a media briefing in Abuja.
Pate says the patient is a woman with a recent travel history to East Africa, particularly Uganda, who returned to Nigeria with symptoms that later progressed before laboratory tests confirmed the infection.
The patient is currently in isolation and receiving medical care, while health authorities have begun contact tracing. Forty-four contacts have so far been identified.
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The minister says surveillance has also been strengthened at Nigeria’s entry points, with the Federal Ministry of Health, FCT Health Secretariat, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and other partners working to contain the infection.
Public and private health facilities have been directed to remain on high alert, while health workers have been urged to watch closely for possible cases.
Pate advised Nigerians to remain calm and vigilant, practise good hygiene and watch for symptoms including fever, weakness, headache and diarrhoea.
He says the government is drawing on Nigeria’s experience in containing the 2014 Ebola outbreak and will continue to provide updates as efforts to prevent further spread continue.
