The Federal Ministry of Health has stepped up
surveillance at all entry points into Nigeria to prevent the spread of Ebola
disease into the country, the Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, has said.
This, he said, is as a result of the Ebola
outbreak reported in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The minister, while briefing State House
correspondents after the Federal Executive Council meeting held at the
Presidential Villa, Abuja on Wednesday, said the Council ordered steps be taken
to keep the outbreak from Nigeria.
He said the development in DRC is of great
concern to the Nigerian government.
“FEC has now directed the Federal Ministry of
Health to step up emergency surveillance activities at all land and airport
borders, so that we can actually keep Nigerians safe,” he said.
“Part of the new measures to be taken include
screening passengers coming into the country. Not only that, we will be
screening incoming passengers, particularly passengers from DRC and neigbouring
countries. We will also ensure we step up all activities screening people
coming in so that we will not be caught unawares.”
Ebola has a tendency of spreading across
borders through human migration if not well monitored. In 2014, the disease was
imported to Nigeria through a Liberian diplomat who flew into Nigeria in an
attempt to get to the US after contacting the disease in Liberia.
As a result of this, eight Nigerians died from
the disease and many others were infected, majority of them health workers.
Mr Adewole said over the last one month, DRC
recorded 19 suspected cases of viral hemorrhagic fever and lost 16 persons in
the cases.
“What is also particularly important was that
two blood samples out of the five collected from patients at a particular
district on Monday in the DRC were confirmed positive,” he said.
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