Nigeria has maintained its highest level of Ebola preparedness despite confirming that all 62 people linked to an imported Bundibugyo Virus Disease case have completed 21 days of monitoring without secondary transmission.
The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, NCDC, Dr Jide Idris, disclosed this on Friday during a news conference in Abuja.
Idris said the last person identified as a contact of the infected individual had completed the mandatory monitoring period, bringing the exercise to an end for all 62 contacts.
He explained that 13 of the individuals developed fever or other symptoms while under observation but were confirmed negative for the disease after laboratory tests.
The NCDC chief also revealed that seven additional suspected cases reported in Adamawa, Rivers, Borno, Lagos and Ekiti states within three weeks were investigated, with laboratory results ruling out the infection in all instances.
However, he cautioned that the successful completion of contact monitoring did not mean Nigeria could be officially declared free of the disease.
He said such a declaration would depend on established public health criteria and findings from continued surveillance, particularly amid ongoing Ebola transmission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Idris said the country had consequently sustained heightened surveillance, with the National Emergency Operations Centre activated and the Incident Management System operating at Level Three, the highest response level for Ebola.
He explained that the response measures were aimed at ensuring effective clinical care, identifying and monitoring exposed individuals, preventing further transmission, protecting healthcare workers and strengthening disease surveillance across the country.
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