Ebola: Tomori warns about Nigerian hospitals’ preparedness
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Vanguard
As Nigeria faces a confirmed case of Bundibugyo Ebola, virologist Tomori is urging authorities to check hospital preparedness. Access to water, disinfectants and protective equipment for healthcare workers is at the centre of concerns, Vanguard reports.
Professor Oyewale Tomori called on Nigerian authorities to check that hospitals have running water, disinfectant and protective equipment to deal with Bundibugyo Ebola virus disease, Vanguard reports. He believes Nigeria’s preparedness must be assessed in the hospital departments where patients are received, and not only through emergency announcements.
Nigeria confirmed an imported case in the Federal Capital Territory on 20 October 2026. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the patient, who had travelled to Uganda, developed symptoms on 7 October and consulted a private hospital in Abuja on 11 October. Forty-four contacts were placed under surveillance, while the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) activated its crisis-management mechanism.
Oyewale Tomori, a Nigerian virologist and former chair of the WHO expert committee on polio, recalled that the 2014 Ebola outbreak and the Covid-19 pandemic had already demonstrated the importance of hand hygiene, isolation and protective equipment. He called for these resources to remain available after emergency situations end.
This warning comes after several calls to strengthen hospital preparedness, including one focused on screening in Nigerian hospitals on 22 October, and another concerning their preparedness on 23 October. Lagos also strengthened its arrangements after the case in Abuja was confirmed on 24 October, according to Lagos’s anti-Ebola measures.
