The federal government is examining probable restriction of flights from Ebola-hit nations as part of further efforts to prevent an outbreak in the country.
This was revealed yesterday by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, at a high-level strategic conference in Victoria Island, Lagos State, to assess the country’s Ebola readiness and response framework.
Channels TV adds that the planned travel limitations would be reinforced by the isolation of travelers showing symptoms compatible with Ebola infection at the nation’s points of entry, Gbajabiamila, who chaired the meeting, stated.
Key authorities present at the meeting included the Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), Dr. Jide Idris, the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Akin Abayomi, among others.
Gbajabiamila further said that President Bola Tinubu had been briefed on the present Ebola scenario in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda, adding that the federal government would take all necessary measures to ensure Nigeria does not record any case.
His administration remains dedicated to strengthening surveillance, response systems and inter-agency collaboration to protect public health, he said.
“We have a health scare, which is Ebola, and we all know what happened the last time. “Cases are getting worse, internationally and globally, and we don’t want to leave anything to chance.
“Three, four categories that we looked at. We discussed the potential of banning flights from nations of concern as we speak. We explored options for segregating passengers that may have symptoms of Ebola.
“We looked at the possibility of isolating the cargo terminal or using the cargo terminal to deal with passengers that are coming in from those areas and of course, putting certain things in place, protocols in place, we believe that prevention is better than cure and where some passengers slip through the cracks then we must have ways of dealing with situations such as that,” he said.
Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo stated all entrance points into the country will be placed under rigorous surveillance to prevent any possible spread.
He said the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) would collaborate with the NCDC to improve early detection and response mechanisms.
For his part, NCDC Director General, Dr. Jide Idris, stressed that Ebola is still a serious viral disease with no known cure or vaccine and that there is a need to keep vigilance especially among health workers.
He said that the readiness plans had been triggered in all the 36 states and there would be intensification of public awareness activities to sensitize citizens on the preventative and response protocols.
“All necessary precautionary measures were in place to strengthen Nigeria’s national preparedness and response systems against any potential outbreak,” Dr. Idris also said.
“We have our preparedness plan, it’s covering all state governments, all ports of entry.
“This virus in particular has no treatment, no vaccines. “So it is the public health measures that need to be done – isolation, quick detection, public enlightenment, infection prevention and control.
“Those are the areas we are focusing on now from NCDC. We get advisories sent out. “We’re going to up our communication skills again, and we’re talking to healthcare workers because they’re vulnerable,” he said.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) announced Friday there had been 10 confirmed, and 223 suspected deaths from Ebola in DR Congo since the outbreak was identified in mid-May, out of more than 1,000 confirmed and suspected cases.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organisation, is worried that insecurity in eastern DR Congo, which has been racked by conflict for three decades, is making it extremely difficult to contain the outbreak.
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