Friday, May 29, 2026 -The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has placed Lagos, the Federal Capital Territory and several other states on high Ebola alert following the outbreak of the deadly Bundibugyo strain of Ebola Virus Disease in parts of East and Central Africa.
In a national public health advisory issued to commissioners
for health across the country, the agency warned that Nigeria faces a high risk
of importing the virus due to increasing regional transmission, international
travel, porous borders, and population movement.
The advisory, dated May 27, 2026, comes amid growing
concerns over the spread of the Bundibugyo variant of Ebola — a rare strain for
which there is currently no approved vaccine or specific treatment.
States classified by the NCDC as high-risk include Lagos,
the FCT, Rivers, Kano, Enugu, Borno, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Taraba, and
Adamawa, because of their international airports, seaports, border routes, and
high human traffic.
“The immediate objective of our national preparedness and
readiness efforts is to ensure that every state and the FCT can reasonably
detect, contain, and respond swiftly to any suspected case while protecting
health workers and sustaining essential health services,” the NCDC stated.
The agency disclosed that although Nigeria has not recorded
any confirmed case, a dynamic risk assessment conducted after the outbreak was
declared a public health emergency of international concern showed that the
danger of importation into Nigeria remains high.
According to the NCDC, 1,077 suspected cases and 247 deaths
have already been reported in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, with
a fatality rate of 24.6 per cent.
It added that the outbreak has also triggered international
concern, with suspected cases reportedly identified in India, while Canada
announced temporary restrictions on travel applications involving residents of
Uganda, DRC, and South Sudan.
Uganda has also reportedly introduced border closure
measures to contain the spread.
The NCDC stressed that the Bundibugyo strain differs from
the Zaire Ebola strain, which existing vaccines and antibody treatments
primarily target.
“The current Bundibugyo virus outbreak has no licensed
vaccines or approved targeted therapeutics,” the advisory warned.
Health officials also cautioned that Ebola symptoms could
initially resemble malaria, Lassa fever, or other common illnesses, making
early detection more difficult.
“Health workers must not wait for bleeding before suspecting
Ebola in any patient with compatible symptoms and relevant travel or exposure
history,” the agency said.
As part of emergency preparedness measures, the agency said
its National Emergency Operations Centre has already been activated in alert
mode to coordinate nationwide response efforts.
State governments were directed to immediately activate
Ebola preparedness structures, identify isolation centres, intensify
surveillance at entry points, equip frontline health workers with personal
protective equipment, and begin public sensitisation campaigns to counter panic
and misinformation.
The Lagos State Government has, however, assured residents
that there are no confirmed or suspected cases of Ebola Virus Disease in the
state.
The Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi, in a
statement on Monday, said there was no cause for alarm, stressing that no
suspected case of Ebola had been detected in Lagos.
Abayomi explained that as a major entry point into Nigeria,
Lagos was closely monitoring developments surrounding the Ebola outbreaks in
the DRC and Uganda, in line with directives from Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
On May 24, 2026, the Nigeria Immigration Service allayed the
fears that the country’s land borders can serve as unchecked entry points for
the Ebola virus currently ravaging DRC and Uganda.
Speaking further, Abayomi said Lagos’ robust and tested
biosecurity architecture remains fully activated and prepared to detect,
contain, and respond rapidly to Ebola and any biological threat.
According to him, Lagos has, over the years, built a
resilient and outbreak-tested biosecurity system designed for continuous
year-round preparedness and response against high-consequence infectious
diseases, including Ebola, Lassa Fever, and Influenza.
“The Lagos Biosecurity Bio-shield was built to protect and
remains ready to respond to biological shocks. Preparedness for us is not a
temporary reaction; it is a permanent culture embedded within our health
system.
“The state’s preparedness framework was first rigorously
tested during the Ebola outbreak and significantly strengthened during the
COVID-19 pandemic.
“It remains actively engaged in responding to recurrent
public health challenges, such as Cholera, Diphtheria, and Lassa Fever
outbreaks,” the commissioner said.
Nigeria’s renewed Ebola alert has revived memories of the
country’s successful containment of the virus during the 2014 outbreak, when an
infected Liberian-American traveller, Patrick Sawyer, arrived in Lagos and
exposed dozens of people before authorities intervened.
At the time, public health experts feared a catastrophic
outbreak in Lagos due to its dense population and status as one of Africa’s
busiest commercial hubs.
However, rapid contact tracing, aggressive isolation
measures, emergency coordination, and public awareness campaigns helped Nigeria
stop the spread within months.
The World Health Organisation later praised Nigeria’s
response as one of the most effective Ebola containment efforts in Africa.
The latest alert is considered particularly serious because
the Bundibugyo variant remains less understood than the more common Zaire
strain.
Unlike the Zaire strain, which has approved vaccines and
treatments developed after previous West African outbreaks, the Bundibugyo
strain currently lacks licensed countermeasures.
Health authorities are now urging Nigerians to remain calm,
avoid rumours and fake cures, maintain proper hygiene, and report suspected
symptoms early as surveillance and preparedness measures intensify nationwide.
0 Comments