The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has placed Lagos, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kano, Rivers, and six other states on a high-risk preparedness alert following a dynamic risk assessment that classified Nigeria’s likelihood of importing the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola Virus Disease as high.
In a national public health advisory issued to health commissioners across all 36 states and the FCT, the NCDC stressed the urgent need to strengthen surveillance systems, isolation capacity, and infection prevention and control measures nationwide.
The alert comes in response to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recent declaration of the escalating Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
Although Nigeria has recorded no confirmed cases, ongoing transmission in parts of Central and East Africa presents a significant regional risk. Current figures from affected areas indicate 1,077 suspected cases and 247 deaths, reflecting a case fatality rate of about 24.6 percent.
The NCDC said Nigeria’s vulnerability is heightened by frequent international travel, dense population movement, major seaports, and porous land borders that allow informal cross-border movement.
As part of its preparedness framework, the agency grouped states into risk tiers based on exposure routes and historical transit patterns. The highest-risk category includes 10 states with major international airports, seaports, or extensive border activity: Lagos, the FCT, Rivers, Kano, Enugu, Borno, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Taraba, and Adamawa.
While all states have been directed to maintain basic outbreak readiness, the NCDC said these high-risk states must urgently scale up diagnostic capacity, isolation units, and emergency response systems.
The agency also highlighted a key challenge: there is currently no approved vaccine or specific antiviral treatment for the Bundibugyo Ebola strain. Available medical countermeasures, including the Ervebo vaccine and monoclonal antibody therapies, are designed primarily for the Zaire strain and have not been shown to provide protection against this variant. As a result, early detection and rapid public health response remain the primary tools for containment.
The NCDC reiterated that Ebola is not airborne and spreads only through direct contact with the blood, bodily fluids, or contaminated surfaces of infected persons or animals.
Healthcare workers have been urged to maintain a high index of suspicion, as early symptoms—such as fever, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, and hiccups—often resemble more common illnesses like malaria and Lassa fever.
The agency warned against delaying isolation until advanced symptoms such as unexplained bleeding appear, advising instead that suspected cases be isolated immediately and travel histories carefully assessed.
The National Emergency Operations Centre has been placed on heightened alert to improve coordination between federal and state health authorities. State governments have also been directed to confirm the readiness of both public and private health facilities, including contact tracing systems, personal protective equipment supplies, safe sample handling procedures, and emergency referral and ambulance response networks.
