Ebola: 46 contacts of Abuja patient barred from flying for 21 days
- Aviation minister Festus Keyamo don order airlines make dem no carry 46 people wey bin get contact with Nigeria confirmed Ebola patient.
- The 21-day ban na the same as the virus incubation period, and airports don increase screening and temperature checks.
- Health authorities talk say the patient, na woman wey travel from Uganda, dey isolation while contact tracing continue.
Forty-six people wey bin get contact with Nigeria confirmed Ebola patient don barred from boarding flights for at least 21 days, the aviation minister, Festus Keyamo, talk on Wednesday.
Keyamo talk say e give the order after one virtual meeting with the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, wey give am the list of contacts.
Out of the 46, forty-four na people the patient meet for hospital where dem treat am after her symptoms show. The other two na her domestic staff.
The minister talk say dem dey isolate the contacts while health officials dey wait to see whether any of dem go develop the disease. The 21-day window match the longest time Ebola fit take to show itself after exposure.
E direct the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to tell local and international airlines about the restriction straight away. E also ask the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to tighten Ebola checks for all international airports.
Those checks include temperature screening, questions about where travellers don go, digital health forms and closer coordination with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC).
Wetin we know about the patient
The NCDC confirm the infection on October 20. According to the World Health Organisation, the patient na woman wey recently fly come from Uganda. Her symptoms start on October 7, four days after she arrive, and she go one private hospital for Abuja on October 11.
Doctors first treat am for wetin look like malaria, but she no improve. Her travel history then raise suspicion and dem order tests.
Olajumoke Babatunde, director of public health laboratory services for NCDC, talk say the tests show the Bundibugyo strain. "We do three levels of tests, but all were molecular. The strain was Bundibugyo," she talk for one emergency meeting for Abuja.
One official for the same meeting describe the patient as diplomat wey condition don worsen to multi-organ failure. Dem never make her nationality public.
The WHO talk say there no approved vaccine or specific treatment for the Bundibugyo strain. E dey help Nigeria with investigations, contact tracing, infection control and supplies like protective gear for health workers.
Ebola dey spread through direct contact with blood or other body fluids of person wey don already sick, or with contaminated materials. Na why monitoring contacts closely matter well well.
FAAN, for one statement by its director of public affairs, Henry Agbebire, urge passengers and airport workers to stay calm and cooperate with health officials, and to rely only on verified information.
Wetin go happen next
The Presidential Task Force on Ebola Preparedness, wey Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila chair, meet for State House on Wednesday and talk say e ready to handle the case. Gbajabiamila talk say the system wey dem put in place since June help detect the patient quick.
Pate talk say the government and its partners, including WHO and Africa CDC, don activate their response and ask Nigerians to follow public health advice and avoid spreading rumours.
For now, the priority na to watch the 46 contacts through the 21 days, keep the hospital where dem treat the patient safe, and screen travellers for airports.
