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The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has approved a weekly payment of ₦100,000 per person to support individuals placed under isolation or quarantine as authorities work to contain the Ebola outbreak in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
NCDC Director-General, Jide Idris, disclosed this during a press briefing on Sunday, explaining that the financial assistance followed complaints from contacts about the cost of food, accommodation and supporting their families while undergoing public health monitoring.
Idris said the agency introduced the emergency measure to ease the financial burden on affected individuals and encourage them to comply with the monitoring arrangements.
He explained that the support would cover basic living expenses, including feeding and accommodation, as some contacts had requested additional money to cater for their families.
“We are paying for their accommodation; we are paying for their feeding. Some of them are asking for a stipend to maintain their families,” he said.
According to the NCDC chief, the payment was not part of the agency’s original plan but became necessary in response to the circumstances surrounding the outbreak.
He added that the arrangement would be reviewed as the response progressed.
“This was not planned for, but it is an emergency. We will continue to review it as we go along,” Idris said.
Idris also warned that other states must prepare to provide similar financial and logistical support if they experience comparable public health emergencies, stressing that the responsibility should not rest with the FCT alone.
“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,” he said.
He urged state governments to make adequate provisions for contact tracing, isolation and other outbreak response activities within their jurisdictions.
The intervention comes as health authorities increase efforts to prevent further transmission following the confirmation of an imported Ebola case in Abuja on October 20.
Idris reported that Nigeria had recorded one confirmed case at the time of the briefing, with 53 primary contacts identified for monitoring.
Those being tracked include healthcare workers, household members, domestic staff and personnel involved in collecting samples from the patient.
He said public health teams were assessing contacts according to their level of exposure and monitoring them for symptoms. Anyone who develops symptoms would undergo further assessment and testing.
The NCDC has also arranged isolation facilities for contacts who require them, with health officials monitoring individuals throughout the 21-day incubation period following their last possible exposure.
Idris disclosed that one contact who reported feeling unwell had tested negative for Ebola, while surveillance and follow-up activities continued.
The agency is also strengthening infection prevention and control measures in healthcare facilities, training health workers and supporting the supply of protective equipment and laboratory materials.
The confirmed case involves a woman who travelled to Nigeria from Uganda and tested positive for the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus.
She developed symptoms on October 7, sought medical attention in Abuja on October 11 and received a positive test result on October 20.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has classified the infection as an imported case, with investigations continuing to determine the likely source of exposure.
The wider regional outbreak has also affected the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya, highlighting the need for cross-border surveillance and the rapid identification of people who may have been exposed.
Nigeria previously contained an Ebola outbreak in 2014 through case detection, contact tracing, isolation and coordinated public health interventions.
Idris said the NCDC was applying lessons from that experience while improving preparedness across the country. He stressed that containing the current outbreak would require cooperation among government agencies, healthcare workers, contacts and the public.
He urged Nigerians to rely on verified information, avoid spreading rumours and cooperate with health officials carrying out contact tracing and monitoring.
