The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, or NCDC, has taken steps to improve the nation’s readiness after confirming an Ebola outbreak in Uganda and advised Nigerians to postpone travel to nations afflicted by the virus.
Nigerians and residents were advised to avoid all but necessary travel to countries with proven cases of the Ebola virus disease, according to the NCDC’s public health alert, even though WHO had cautioned against any restrictions on travel and/or trade to Uganda. At the moment, there were no Ebola cases in the nation.
On January 30, 2025, Uganda verified that a case of the Sudan-species Ebola virus disease had been reported in Wakiso, Mukono, and Mbale city within the Mbale area.
The nation’s health ministry reports that 44 contacts are being monitored, but just one case and one death have been documented thus far.
In the public health advisory, NCDC Director-General Dr. Jide Idris revealed this and said that Uganda has experience dealing with Ebola epidemics and that the required steps had been taken.
EBOLA VIRUS
Ebola is a virus that can cause severe bleeding, organ failure and leads to death. Humans can infect other humans by coming into contact with bodily fluids like blood. Muscle aches, chills, fever, and headache are among the early symptoms. A person may later have internal bleeding, which could cause them to cough or vomit blood.
HOW EBOLA SPREADS
Contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an infected patient, such as saliva, urine, sweat, faeces, vomit, or semen, can spread the virus. It can be transmitted by coming into contact with used needles or syringes, clothing or linens tainted with bodily fluids, and certain animals.
SYMPTOMS
Ebola infection can cause acute symptoms such as fever, headache, sore throat, muscle discomfort, and exhaustion. Vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, and bleeding from the inside and outside come next. A person typically has symptoms between two and twenty-one days after contracting the infection. Only when an Ebola patient exhibits symptoms can they transmit the illness. As long as the virus is present in their body, even after they have passed away, people can still spread Ebola. Some Ebola survivors may experience symptoms for up to two years after they recover.
Among these signs are:
fatigue, headache, and joint and muscular pain vision issues and eye pain gaining weight stomach discomfort and appetite loss Skin issues and hair loss difficulty sleeping and memory loss loss of hearing anxiety and depression.
HISTORY OF EBOLA
The earliest EVD outbreaks happened in isolated communities close to tropical rainforests in Central Africa. The largest and most complicated Ebola outbreak since the virus’s discovery in 1976 occurred in West Africa between 2014 and 2016. This outbreak had more cases and fatalities than all the others put together. Additionally, it moved from Guinea to Sierra Leone and Liberia, crossing international borders. Fruit bats belonging to the Pteropodidae family are believed to be natural hosts of the Ebola virus.
EBOLA OUTBREAK IN NIGERIA
An extremely sick Liberian passenger who was admitted to a private hospital after arriving at the Lagos, Nigeria, international airport on July 20, 2014, was diagnosed with Ebola virus disease. Seventy-two people was exposed by this index patient at the hospital and airport.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) advised the Federal Ministry of Health to declare an Ebola emergency. Lagos is a regional centre for travel, business, and industry. It is also a place where infectious diseases can spread quickly and continue to proliferate.
Thus, the top objective was to organise a swift reaction employing all public health resources. As a prelude to the present Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), the Federal Ministry of Health established an Ebola Incident Management Centre on July 23 in order to quickly respond to this epidemic in collaboration with the Lagos State government and foreign partners. As of September 24, there were 19 laboratory-confirmed Ebola cases and one probable case in two states, with 894 contacts identified and monitored during the response. The index patient passed away on July 25. Eight patients (seven with proven Ebola and one with probable) had died, eleven with laboratory-confirmed Ebola had been released, and one more had been diagnosed at the convalescent stage.
All but three of the 891 contacts had left follow-up, and the remaining contacts were scheduled to leave on October 2. The isolation wards were vacant. Since August 31, there have been no new cases, raising the possibility that Nigeria’s Ebola outbreak is under control. The early containment of the Nigerian outbreak is largely attributed to the EOC, which was swiftly established and used an Incident Management System (IMS) to coordinate the response and consolidate decision making. To enhance their capacity to react quickly to pressing public health threats, national public health emergency preparedness agencies in the area—including those engaged in Ebola responses—should think about incorporating the creation of an EOC.