The Presidential Task Force on Ebola Preparedness and Emerging Public Health Threats has assured Nigerians of its capacity to contain the virus.
The Chairman of the Task Force and Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, gave the assurance while speaking to newsmen after the group’s emergency meeting at the State House on Wednesday.
Gbajabiamila said the Task Force has been working behind the scenes since it was inaugurated in June, which enabled the quick detection of the index case.
“Since the issue of Ebola came up in June, there have been about 44,000 flights in and out of Nigeria. So, it’s because of what the Ministry of Health, the task force and all the agencies have been doing. All hands have been on deck,” he said.
He explained that the passenger showed no symptoms at arrival, with symptoms manifesting four days after arrival in Abuja, but the protocols put in place enabled quick identification.
He assured that the Task Force would strengthen protocols and ensure more rigorous enforcement going forward.
Also speaking, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Ali Pate, said Nigeria has competent health authorities and surveillance systems in place across the country.
“We have been conducting contact tracing diligently and isolating those contacts of the index imported case in this country. We will continue to do that,” Pate said.
He said the Federal Government, alongside technical partners including the World Health Organisation, Africa CDC and NCDC, has activated the incident management system and hospital capabilities to contain the case.
He urged citizens to avoid misinformation and baseless rumours capable of causing panic.
The Federal Government on Tuesday confirmed an imported case of Ebola Virus Disease in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), a woman with recent travel history to Uganda who returned to Nigeria on October 7.
