Ebola in Nigeria: medical academy advises avoiding physical contact

Nigeria’s Academy of Medical Sciences has recommended avoiding handshakes, hugs and unnecessary physical contact after an Ebola case was confirmed in Abuja. Its president, Professor Osato Giwa-Osagie, made the call on Tuesday in a public health statement, responding to an announcement by the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. The patient is a woman who recently arrived from Uganda.

The academy called for the immediate activation of enhanced alert protocols nationwide. Measures already under way include isolating the patient, monitoring people who have been in contact with her and strengthening surveillance, Giwa-Osagie said. He also recommended increased screening of travellers at airports, seaports and land borders, particularly those arriving from countries affected by Ebola.

The virus is not transmitted through the air, but through direct contact with the blood or other bodily fluids of an infected person showing symptoms, or with contaminated objects, the academy president said. He advised regular handwashing with soap and water or the use of alcohol-based hand sanitiser, and avoiding contact with the bodily fluids of sick people. Possible symptoms include fever, severe weakness, headaches, vomiting and diarrhoea.

The recommendation follows confirmation of the first Ebola case in Abuja, announced by Nigerian authorities on 20 October (the confirmed case in Abuja). On the same day, authorities announced that 44 people who had been in contact with the patient had been identified (the 44 contacts identified).