The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has identified 53 primary contacts linked to the country’s confirmed Ebola virus disease case, as authorities intensify surveillance to prevent further transmission.
The agency also disclosed that a suspected case reported in Rivers State had tested negative for the virus.
The Director-General of the NCDC, Dr Jide Idris, disclosed this during a press briefing in Abuja on Sunday.
He said, “We have established two suspected cases and 53 primary contact links. They are primary contacts. We have an isolation centre and a quarantine centre.”
Idris said health authorities were monitoring individuals who might have been exposed to the infection following the confirmation of Ebola in a 42-year-old woman who recently returned to Nigeria from Uganda.
According to the NCDC DG, the woman developed symptoms on October 7 and visited a private health facility on October 10. She presented at another private facility the following day, where she was admitted.
He said the NCDC was notified on October 19, after which it conducted an investigation and collected samples. The agency’s National Reference Laboratory confirmed the infection on October 20.
Idris said the woman presented with fever, diarrhoea, generalised body aches and a sore throat. Idris said she did not report any bleeding.
He said about 12 public and private laboratories were available to test for Ebola, adding that the NCDC had strengthened its laboratory capacity to ensure suspected cases were promptly investigated.
The agency urged public and private healthcare facilities to strengthen screening, triage and infection prevention measures and ensure healthcare workers had adequate personal protective equipment.
