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The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has urged Nigerians not to panic over the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The Head of Health Emergency Preparedness at the NCDC, Biodun Ogunniyi, during an interview with Channels TV on Monday, said this is not the first time Nigeria has prepared for an Ebola outbreak.
“There is no need to panic because fear kills more than death itself, because this is not the first time Nigeria is getting prepared for this kind of outbreak. We had a bit of a scare last year, used that opportunity to test our system, and we are comfortable to an extent,” he said.
“Let’s not forget Nigeria has been tested before with Ebola in 2014…, and we know that in less than 70 days, the country was able to wipe this virus out, which received global commendation that made us support other countries in Africa,” he noted.
According to Ogunniyi, Nigeria now has a stronger health system to combat the virus than it did during the 2014 Ebola outbreak. He assured Nigerians that the country has the capacity to contain the virus.
“The Bundibugyo Ebola Virus, the first time was in 2007, and if something is not new to you, you are relatively more prepared because it is not new, so for us, we have the system in place as a country and as an agency to be able to quickly coordinate ourselves through our Public Health Emergency Operation Centre,” he added.
“We have our laboratory capacity, unlike in 2014 when we first had this Ebola outbreak. Now we have the capacity in the country to detect the Ebola virus. There is a network of laboratories across the country, and we have our national reference laboratories both in Abuja and also in Lagos to ensure we can have prompt detection when it happens.”
The recent Ebola outbreak in the DR Congo has stirred global concern, as countries implement measures to curb its spread. The outbreak has claimed more than 130 lives in the DRC and recorded over 500 suspected cases.
The NCDC has, however, repeatedly debunked claims of confirmed Ebola cases in Nigeria, while the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has assured Nigerians that safety measures have been implemented at international airports across the country.
Ogunniyi reiterated this, saying that surveillance is in place at all Nigerian borders and across the 774 local government areas.
“Across the country, in all our 774 local government areas, we have those officers that we call the disease surveillance and notification officers who work with the public health system. In all the local government areas, they have their surveillance focal persons in health facilities in the country,” Ogunniyi added.
“If anyone is entering Nigeria from DRC or Uganda, the protocol is in place at the airport to ensure that they are put aside to fill out the health declaration form.
“There is no travel restriction for now globally for this particular disease and it will be unfair and it will be going against the policy to detain somebody who does not have symptoms of the disease but at that point the best we do is to ensure we get the right information about them to know where they will be in the country where they are visiting and ensure we are able to follow up.”
