***Pate says infected woman showing signs of recovery
Isaac Samuel
The Federal Government has said there is no immediate need to cancel political campaigns, conferences or other large public gatherings following Nigeria’s confirmation of an imported Ebola case, but warned that restrictions could be considered if the situation worsens.
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, gave the assurance on Thursday in Abuja, saying the government would base any decision on scientific evidence and public health advice.
Pate, who said the infected woman was receiving treatment and showing encouraging signs of recovery, urged Nigerians to remain vigilant while avoiding panic and misinformation.
“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.
He added that the government would continue working to prevent the infection from spreading to other communities.
“We have to continue to pray and work hard to ensure that she survives it,” the minister said.
On whether political campaigns and other large gatherings should be suspended, Pate said there was no evidence at present to justify changing existing plans.
“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.”
The minister said public health authorities had assessed people who might have been exposed to the infected woman and categorised them according to their levels of risk.
“The high-risk contacts have been quarantined fully in a facility. The others have been isolated, and we are ensuring that the isolation is enforced, consistent with public health expert guidelines,” he said.
Pate said the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention had activated its incident management system and was coordinating the national response in collaboration with the Federal Capital Territory authorities.
He added that the Federal Government had briefed the Presidential Task Force on Ebola, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and the National Economic Council, while state governments had also been informed.
The government, he said, was working with the World Health Organisation, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and other technical partners to contain the infection.
Pate disclosed that additional resources had been released to the NCDC to support the response, while further domestic resources were being mobilised to strengthen preparedness and containment.
He said arrangements were being made for further genomic sequencing of the virus to improve understanding of the strain detected, adding that genomics expert, Prof. Christian Happi, had been invited to support the NCDC’s laboratory and surveillance work.
According to the minister, Nigeria’s public health authorities diagnosed, confirmed and reported the case to the WHO within 24 hours of being alerted.
“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,” he said.
Pate urged Nigerians to follow public health advice, including frequent handwashing and avoiding unnecessary contact with other people’s body fluids.
He explained that Ebola was not airborne but was transmitted through contact with infected body fluids, warning people experiencing symptoms such as fever, headaches and muscle aches, particularly those with relevant travel histories, to isolate themselves and promptly notify public health authorities.
“We are assuring Nigerians that we can be able to deal with it. But to do that, we need the cooperation of Nigerians to follow expert advice,” he said.
The minister also urged people identified as contacts of the confirmed case to comply with quarantine and isolation requirements, warning that failure to do so could expose others to infection.
He said hospitals, including federal health facilities, had been directed to prepare isolation beds and strengthen infection prevention and control measures, particularly for frontline health workers.
Pate called on private hospitals and practitioners to promptly notify public health authorities of suspected cases, noting the important role private facilities play in detecting infectious disease outbreaks.
He cautioned political leaders against turning the outbreak into a partisan issue, describing public health as a concern that transcended political, religious and ethnic differences.
“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. It is a great unifier,” he said.
Responding to concerns that some Nigerians doubted the existence of the outbreak, Pate insisted that the infection had been confirmed through repeated testing.
“The truth is, we do have a case. It has been tested three times, and those three times’ tests came back positive,” he said.
He warned that misinformation could undermine public cooperation and the effectiveness of the containment effort.
“The alternative to trusting the experts is tragedy. It’s really tragedy,” the minister said.
Pate said the government would continue to provide regular updates as investigations progressed, while the NCDC maintained surveillance and coordinated the response.
“We don’t want it to go beyond it, and there is no need to panic, but we have to be vigilant,” he said.
Nigeria confirmed an imported Ebola case in the Federal Capital Territory on Tuesday, October 20, after a woman who had recently arrived from Uganda tested positive for the virus.
The patient had been admitted to a private hospital in Abuja, where she received treatment before laboratory confirmation. The Federal Government said contact tracing had begun, with public health teams working to identify and monitor people who might have been exposed.
Nigeria previously contained an Ebola outbreak in 2014 through case identification, isolation, contact tracing and coordinated public health interventions.
