Ebola: 46 contacts of Abuja patient barred from flying for 21 days
- Aviation minister Festus Keyamo has ordered airlines not to carry 46 people who had contact with Nigeria's confirmed Ebola patient.
- The 21-day ban matches the virus's incubation period, and airports have stepped up screening and temperature checks.
- Health authorities say the patient, a woman who travelled from Uganda, is in isolation while contact tracing continues.
Forty-six people who came into contact with Nigeria's confirmed Ebola patient have been barred from boarding flights for at least 21 days, the aviation minister, Festus Keyamo, said on Wednesday.
Keyamo said he gave the order after a virtual meeting with the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, who gave him the list of contacts.
Of the 46, forty-four are people the patient met at the hospital where she was treated after her symptoms appeared. The other two are her domestic staff.
The minister said the contacts are being isolated while health officials wait to see whether any of them develop the disease. The 21-day window matches the longest time Ebola can take to show itself after exposure.
He directed the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to tell local and international airlines about the restriction straight away. He also asked the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to tighten Ebola checks at all international airports.
Those checks include temperature screening, questions about where travellers have been, digital health forms and closer coordination with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC).
What we know about the patient
The NCDC confirmed the infection on October 20. According to the World Health Organisation, the patient is a woman who recently flew in from Uganda. Her symptoms started on October 7, four days after she arrived, and she went to a private hospital in Abuja on October 11.
Doctors first treated her for what looked like malaria, but she did not improve. Her travel history then raised suspicion and tests were ordered.
Olajumoke Babatunde, director of public health laboratory services at the NCDC, said the tests showed the Bundibugyo strain. "We did three levels of tests, but all were molecular. The strain was Bundibugyo," she said at an emergency meeting in Abuja.
An official at the same meeting described the patient as a diplomat whose condition had worsened into multi-organ failure. Her nationality has not been made public.
The WHO says there is no approved vaccine or specific treatment for the Bundibugyo strain. It is helping Nigeria with investigations, contact tracing, infection control and supplies such as protective gear for health workers.
Ebola spreads through direct contact with the blood or other body fluids of someone who is already sick, or with contaminated materials. That is why monitoring contacts closely matters so much.
FAAN, in a statement by its director of public affairs, Henry Agbebire, urged passengers and airport workers to stay calm and cooperate with health officials, and to rely only on verified information.
What happens next
The Presidential Task Force on Ebola Preparedness, chaired by Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila, met at the State House on Wednesday and said it was ready to handle the case. Gbajabiamila said the system put in place since June helped detect the patient quickly.
Pate said the government and its partners, including the WHO and Africa CDC, have activated their response and asked Nigerians to follow public health advice and avoid spreading rumours.
For now, the priority is watching the 46 contacts through the 21 days, keeping the hospital where the patient was treated safe, and screening travellers at the airports.