With the announcement yesterday, Friday, by the World Health Organization (WHO), of the fresh outbreak of deadly Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria has risen to increase surveillance at all the entry points, especially, airport, from other countries.
The Management of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) announced, in reaction to the development, that adequate surveillance has been beefed up at the nation’s airports.
The airport authority’s Acting General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Henrietta Yakubu, said today, Saturday that though there is no direct flight from Congo to Nigeria but that all the preventive measures are being put in place at the airports to stem any possibility of reoccurrence in Nigeria.
She said that the Port Health officials are also at alert at all airports, and that the authority has also informed them of the need to increase surveillance.
“We don’t have direct flights from Congo; we only have from Rwanda but I want to assure members of the public that we still have all preventive measures in place at our airports.
“There are sanitizers at our arrivals with the scanning apparatus called Thermal scanners being installed by the Port Health Services.
“The scanners have camera monitors that display pictures aside the capturing of temperature. “Passengers still fill that form to ensure that everybody arriving in the country through our airports is not potential carriers of deadly diseases.
“The port health officials are always at alert and we will also inform them of the need to increase their surveillance. So, there is no cause for alarm.”
Nigeria experienced the Ebola virus in July, 2014 when a Liberian American, Patrick Sawyer, who had the disease flew from Liberia to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos and died five days later.
In response, the Federal Government observed all of Sawyer’s contacts for signs of infection and increased surveillance at all entry points to the country. Nigeria was able to curtail the disease and was subsequently declared Ebola free by WHO.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday, saying that at least one person had been confirmed dead due to the virus in the country’s north-east. [myad]
