The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has identified one more person as a primary contact, taking the number of monitored cases to 54.
NCDC Director-General Dr. Jide Idris disclosed this Monday during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he also stated that more than 40 are in quarantine in Abuja.
Idris said that the latest contact was an e-hailing driver who transported the patient to a private hospital.
“Today, we got one more suspected case contact, who actually was the Uber driver who actually drove her again before to the first hospital.
"That information we got later,” Idris said.
He said six contacts were self-quarantining at home because their exposure risks were considered low.
They were being monitored through regular calls and temperature checks.
Idris also said three people who were retested after changes in their condition all tested negative.
“The three of them again today were tested, and all the three of them turned out negative,” he said.
The NCDC chief warned that the response was not over, despite the evacuation of the index patient to Switzerland.
“So we are not out of the woods yet until we are sure that we have all the contacts, and they have been followed up,” he said.
Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate confirmed Monday that the patient, who was stable and conscious and had clinically improved, was evacuated alongside her husband, who remained without symptoms.
Nigeria confirmed its first case of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola on Oct. 20.
The patient had returned from Uganda in early October.
Idris urged anyone experiencing symptoms or concerned about a possible case to contact the nearest health facility or call the NCDC’s toll-free hotline on 6232.
He said efforts to identify secondary contacts were continuing as authorities worked to prevent further transmission.
Comments
Add a comment