Although Nigeria is yet to record any confirmed case of the deadly virus, the NCDC has ramped up nationwide surveillance and other preventive strategies to block importation and potential local transmission.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has declared the risk of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) entering Nigeria as high, as fresh outbreaks continue to rage in parts of East Africa, raising serious concerns over Nigeria's porous borders and rising cross-border movements.
The Director-General of the NCDC, Dr Jide Idris, sounded the warning during a high-level media briefing held in Lagos State, where he detailed Nigeria’s current state of preparedness in the face of escalating regional threats from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda.
According to Idris, the agency arrived at this assessment following a comprehensive dynamic risk evaluation prompted by the rapidly evolving public health crisis in the region.
He expressed worry that detection of any imported case could be delayed, as early symptoms of Ebola closely mirror those of common local ailments like malaria and Lassa fever.
