Following the fresh outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) caused by the Sudan strain of the Ebola virus (EV) in Uganda, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has said the country was at high risk of Importing the virus.
NCDC director-general, Dr. Ifedaya Adetifa, in a statement he issued yesterday, said the likelihood of the spread of the disease to Nigeria n is high because of gatherings and travel associated with politics, the coming yuletide as well as other religious gatherings and festivals during the last few months of the year
He gave other reasons as “the Sudan Ebola virus does not currently have an effective drug for treatment or licensed vaccine for prevention. The case fatality rate of the Sudan virus varied from 41 percent to 100 percent in past outbreaks.
“The likelihood of importation to Nigeria is high due to the increased air travel between Nigeria and Uganda, especially through Kenya’s Nairobi Airport, a regional transport hub, and other neighbouring countries that share a direct border with Uganda.
Ifedayo, however, said Nigeria has the capacity; technical, human (health workforce), and diagnostic to respond effectively in the event of an outbreak.
He said this is exemplified by the country’s successful response to the Ebola outbreak in 2014 as well as improvements in capacity for health emergency response during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have the diagnostic capacity to test for the EVD presently at the National Reference Laboratory in Abuja and the Lagos University Teaching Hospital’s Centre for Human and Zoonotic Virology Laboratory,” he said.
The NCDC boss also said diagnostic capacity would be scaled up to other laboratories in cities with important Points of Entry (POE) and others as may be required.
The outbreak in Uganda has also been confirmed by the World Health Organization (WHO). The Sudan strain of the Ebola virus is the known cause of EVD having caused previous outbreaks in Uganda, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Uganda Virus Research Institute confirmed the virus in samples collected from a 24-year old male who exhibited symptoms of the disease and later died as a result in Mubende District in the Central Region about 175km from the capital, Kampala.
As of 29th September 2022, the Ugandan Ministry of Health has reported 54 cases (35 confirmed and 19 probable) and 25 deaths (7 confirmed and 18 probable). The Ugandan Ministry of Health with support from WHO is working to effectively respond to and contain the spread of the virus, said NCDC.