The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has announced that its second suspected case of Ebola turned out negative.
The director-general of the NCDC, Dr. Jide Idris, addressed a news conference in Abuja on Sunday, disclosing that only the index case tested positive for the disease.
The number of contacts being monitored is now 53, believed to have come in contact with the index case.
“We have established two suspected cases and 53 primary contact links," Dr. Idris said.
"These comprise 44 people from the health facility where the patient was treated and nine additional contacts."
The additional contacts include members of the patient's household, her driver, chef and husband, as well as people who attended to her at another clinic and health workers who collected samples.
None of the 53 contacts have tested positive or developed symptoms as of Sunday.
Dr. Idris disclosed that a weekly stipend of ₦100,000 has been approved for people placed in isolation.
He said the stipend was an emergency intervention to cover living expenses for contacts undergoing monitoring, after complaints about the burden of complying with public health directives.
"We are paying for their accommodation; we are paying for their feeding.
"Some of them are asking for a stipend to maintain their families.
"We are providing ₦100,000 per person per week just to maintain their comfort and feeding, because they were complaining."
He noted the payment was not in the agency's original plan and urged state governments to prepare for similar emergencies.
Nigeria confirmed its first case of Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease on October 20, after a woman who travelled from Uganda tested positive at a private hospital in Abuja.
Switzerland's foreign office has since disclosed that she is the Ugandan wife of a Swiss diplomat based in Abuja.
She remains in isolation.
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