Ebola: WHO hails Nigeria as 62 contacts complete monitoring, no new cases recorded

File photo: Health workers in Ebola kits

The World Health Organisation has said all 62 contacts linked to Nigeria’s imported case of Bundibugyo virus disease have completed 21 days of monitoring without any secondary transmission.

WHO Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, disclosed this in a statement posted on his X handle on Friday, congratulating the Nigerian government, health workers and responders for preventing the spread of the virus.

He said the contacts linked to the case reported on October 20 had completed the monitoring period, marking a significant milestone in the country’s response to the outbreak.

“A positive milestone in Nigeria’s Ebola response: all 62 identified contacts of the case reported on 20 October have completed 21 days of monitoring, with no secondary transmission detected,” Tedros said.

He added that the WHO would maintain its support and heightened vigilance as the country entered the second half of the 42-day countdown.

“My congratulations to the government, health workers and responders for their success in preventing the spread of the Bundibugyo virus,” he said.

The WHO chief’s statement followed a briefing by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday, where its Director-General, Jide Idris, announced the completion of the 21-day monitoring of all 62 contacts.

Idris said the last contact completed the monitoring period and was discharged on November 13.

He disclosed that 13 of the contacts reported fever or other non-specific symptoms during the monitoring period, but all tested negative for the virus.

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“Today, we announce an important milestone in our national response to the imported case of Bundibugyo virus disease.

“The 21-day monitoring period for all 62 identified contacts has been completed with the last contact discharged today.

“We are glad to announce that none of the contacts became ill, meaning no transmission from the index case,” Idris said.

Despite the development, Idris cautioned that the completion of contact monitoring did not mean the outbreak had formally ended.

He said Nigeria remained vigilant amid ongoing Ebola transmission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, adding that the NCDC’s National Emergency Operations Centre remained activated at Level 3.

The imported case was confirmed on October 20 after a 42-year-old woman who had travelled from Uganda arrived in Abuja on October 3 through Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

She developed symptoms on October 7 and was admitted to a private health facility on October 11. The NCDC was notified on October 19, and laboratory tests confirmed the infection the following day.

The patient was evacuated to Switzerland on October 26 for further medical care and was discharged from hospital on November 11 after recovering.