The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has called for urgent international support to contain the Ebola outbreak after Nigeria confirmed its first case in the current outbreak.
The agency’s Director-General, Jean Kaseya, made the appeal Tuesday after speaking with Nigeria’s Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, who informed him of the confirmed case in the Federal Capital Territory.
“My appeal to the international community is urgent: ACT NOW,” Kaseya said in a statement published on the agency’s official X account.
“We need immediate, flexible financing, medical supplies, diagnostics, trained responders and stronger community-based surveillance.
"We cannot allow this outbreak to spread to more countries or continue for another year,” he said.
Kaseya warned that delays could cost lives, adding, “Africa’s health security is global health security.”
He said Africa CDC was mobilising support for Nigeria while intensifying response efforts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Kenya and maintaining heightened vigilance in Uganda.
The agency described the outbreak as the most geographically widespread Ebola outbreak in history, affecting several countries across three African regions.
Kaseya said the situation in the DRC remained particularly serious, with the case fatality rate approaching 50%.
Nigeria confirmed its case on Oct. 20 after laboratory tests identified the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola in a woman who recently travelled from Uganda.
The patient is receiving treatment in isolation in Abuja.
The World Health Organization said the woman developed symptoms on Oct. 7 and sought medical care on Oct. 11. Authorities have identified 44 contacts for monitoring, while investigations continue to establish where she contracted the virus.
Kaseya urged governments and development partners to work together to prevent further spread, saying, “Stopping Ebola in Africa today means protecting the world.
"Nigeria has our full solidarity.
"Together, we must defeat this outbreak.”
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