Nigeria confirms no new Ebola cases, monitors 54 contacts
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Vanguard
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention says no Ebola case is currently confirmed in Nigeria and 54 contacts remain under surveillance. Its director-general, Jide Idris, said monitoring must continue after the infected patient left for Switzerland; her case was confirmed on 20 October, Vanguard reports.
Nigeria has confirmed no new Ebola cases, while 54 people who had direct contact with an infected traveller remain under daily surveillance, Jide Idris, director-general of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), said on Tuesday, according to Vanguard.
Three contacts who developed symptoms last week tested negative. The authorities are nevertheless continuing to monitor them and search for possible secondary contacts. Most of the 54 people are in quarantine in Abuja, while a few are observing quarantine at home, according to the NCDC.
The patient, whose infection was confirmed on 20 October after she returned from Uganda to Abuja, was evacuated to Switzerland on 26 October with her husband, at the Swiss government’s expense. Jide Idris said she had shown clinical improvement before her departure and that contacts in quarantine would receive weekly assistance of 100,000 naira.
Nigeria confirmed the isolated Ebola case in a female traveller on 23 October, before gradually increasing the number of contacts being monitored.
