NCDC to Complete Monitoring of 62 Ebola Contacts November 13

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) says it expects to complete monitoring of the 62 contacts traced to an imported Ebola case by November 13.

The agency stated this in its Ebola disease situation report published on Thursday.

“Contacts are expected to complete follow-up by November. Expected completion dates range from 31 Oct to 13 Nov 2026,” the report reads.

NCDC said contact tracing and monitoring would continue.

It added that additional contact tracers had been mapped and trained to strengthen surveillance.

The agency relayed that it would “engage and assess additional contacts for possible evacuation to the quarantine facility”.

“Continue follow-up of contacts in quarantine, continue contact tracing and monitoring,” NCDC said.

The agency shared that the scope and strategy for identifying contacts had been reviewed and expanded.

It said the case definitions for Ebola disease had also been reviewed to improve the identification and management of suspected infections.

The report further listed plans to review guidelines on contact tracing, self-quarantine, self-care kits and the Ebola call protocol.

The NCDC said it would also develop an Ebola disease dashboard on the surveillance outbreak response management and analysis system (SORMAS), to improve contact management.

The agency said the National Incident Management System (IMS) had been activated.

It said the implementation of prioritised response activities continues across thematic areas, while the Incident Action Plan had been finalised.

The agency added that a high-level stakeholder meeting had been held with partner agencies to strengthen coordination, resource mobilisation and accountability in the response.

In October, the federal government said it had recorded a confirmed case of Ebola disease in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Ali Pate, coordinating minister of health and social welfare, identified 44 close contacts for tracing to prevent further transmission.

According to the minister, the patient, a woman who recently arrived in Nigeria on an international flight from Uganda, was admitted to a private hospital in the FCT, where she received care for several days before the diagnosis was confirmed.

Nigeria’s index Ebola case was later evacuated to Switzerland for further treatment.