By Ayodele Oni
Nigeria’s Ebola response has come under renewed focus following the identification of two additional suspected cases of the disease, with health authorities tracking 53 primary contacts to prevent further transmission.
The Director General of the centre, Dr Jide Idris announced this on Sunday at a press briefing. He emphasised that the cases are still suspected.
Dr Idris explained that a suspected case in Rivers State was found negative and cleared of the disease.
Idris said Nigeria has recorded one confirmed case at the time of the briefing, with 53 primary contacts identified for monitoring.
The contacts include healthcare workers, household members, domestic staff and personnel involved in collecting samples from the patient.
He said the contacts were being categorised according to their exposure and followed up by public health teams, while anyone developing symptoms would be assessed and tested.
The NCDC has also established isolation arrangements for contacts requiring them, with officials monitoring their health throughout the 21-day incubation period following their last possible exposure.
“We are paying for their accommodation; we are paying for their feeding. Some of them are asking for a stipend to maintain their families.
“We are providing N100,000 per person per week just to maintain their comfort and feeding, because they were complaining.”
The NCDC boss explained that the intervention was not originally planned, but became necessary because of the circumstances surrounding the outbreak. He said the agency would continue to review the arrangement as the response progressed.
“This was not planned for, but it is an emergency. We will continue to review it as we go along.”
He also stressed that the Federal Capital Territory should not be the only jurisdiction prepared to provide such support, warning that other states would need to make adequate financial and logistical provisions should similar emergencies arise.
“This is not the responsibility of the FCT alone. What we have to do for the FCT, we have to do for any other state, just in case.”
According to him, state governments must be prepared to provide the resources and materials required to support contact tracing, isolation and other response activities within their jurisdictions.
The payment comes as health authorities intensify efforts to prevent further transmission of Ebola following the confirmation of an imported case in Abuja on October 20.
Nigeria previously contained an Ebola outbreak in 2014 through case identification, contact tracing, isolation and coordinated public health action.
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