The National Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, has said no Nigerian has so far tested positive to the Ebola disease after the first case was recorded in the country two weeks ago, when an infected Liberian flew into Lagos and died few days later.
The project director of the NCDC, Abdulsalam Nasidi, said health officials have so far tracked 70 people who had direct contact with the Liberian man who died from Ebola in Nigeria, but that none of them have tested positive to the virus, adding that they are still being closely monitored.
There had been reports that two of the 70 persons being monitored had developed high fever, one of the symptoms of the dreaded disease, fuelling speculations of possible new cases in the country.
Nasidi confirmed that two of the 70 persons have fever and some other infections but assured that they have not tested positive to the Ebola virus.
”Our priority is to track down all those who have been in contact with him and see what is happening to them and to make sure we don’t miss anything. So, our priority activity is to prevent what we call secondary infection,” he said.
The NDCC director also said the body of the Nigerian flown into the country from Liberia into Anambra state is also being buried using standard procedures as preventive measure.
“We have already sent a team there, they will decontaminate the body, the mortuary and make sure the body is buried under supervision of our team and those who came into contact with him are being quarantined and are being closely followed up,” he said.
Nasidi urged Nigerians not to panic but to imbibe good hand washing practice which he said could prevent contamination of the virus.