No Campaign Restrictions Over Ebola Yet – Pate

Nigeria has no immediate plans to cancel political campaigns or large public gatherings following the confirmation of an acquired Ebola case, the health minister said Thursday, though he warned restrictions could be reviewed if the situation worsens.

Muhammad Ali Pate told a press briefing in Abuja that the patient is recovering.

“Thankfully, that individual has been taken care of and, in fact, is recovering. Today, I spoke to the clinicians, and I understand that laboratory results are showing great improvement, and there is a possibility that she would recover from this,” he said.

The patient was asymptomatic upon arrival but developed symptoms days later, prompting contact tracing. High-risk contacts have been fully quarantined, while others are under enforced isolation.

Pate said the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has activated its incident management system, with President Bola Tinubu releasing additional resources.

The government is working with the World Health Organisation and Africa CDC, and has invited genomics expert Prof. Christian Happi to assist with further sequencing.

“We are assuring Nigerians that the public health capacity is there. We are able to diagnose this from when the public health authorities were informed, within 24 hours, and we notified the WHO,” Pate said.

Addressing the potential for restricting political activities, Pate said decisions would be evidence-based.

“At this moment, there is no indication that requires us to alter the course of large gatherings that have been planned,” he said.

“But if the situation changes, we’ll make a determination; we’ll consult broadly with the right experts and make that determination.”

He urged politicians not to politicise the outbreak, noting that “If there is one issue that will unite Nigerians, it is health, because health has no political party, has no citizenship, has no nationality, has no tribe, no religion.” 

Pate also addressed public scepticism, confirming the case had tested positive three times.

“The alternative to trusting the experts is tragedy,” he warned, citing past challenges with polio vaccination misinformation.

The minister said surveillance at points of entry is being strengthened. “We don’t want it to go beyond it, and there is no need to panic, but we have to be vigilant,” he said.