Ebola: FG Places 46 Exposed Persons On No-Fly List For 21 Days

The federal government has directed the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to place 46 persons exposed to the country’s confirmed Ebola case on a 21-day no-fly list as part of efforts to prevent further transmission of the disease.

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, gave the directive following a virtual meeting on Wednesday with the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, to strengthen measures to contain the outbreak.

According to a statement shared by Keyamo, the NCAA is to notify domestic and international airlines of the restriction to ensure the affected persons do not travel by air during the monitoring period.

The move comes after laboratory tests confirmed Nigeria’s first Ebola case since 2014, with the patient testing positive for the Bundibugyo strain of the virus on October 20.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said the female patient had travelled from Uganda to Nigeria before developing symptoms on October 7, four days after her arrival.

She reportedly sought treatment at a private health facility in Abuja on October 11 after experiencing symptoms initially considered consistent with malaria.

However, her condition failed to improve, while her travel history raised concerns among attending doctors, prompting further investigations and laboratory testing that confirmed the infection.

The Director of Public Health Laboratory Services at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), Olajumoke Babatunde, confirmed the Bundibugyo strain during an emergency incident management meeting in Abuja on Wednesday.

The 21-day restriction on the 46 contacts is intended to reduce the risk of further spread while health authorities monitor exposed persons during the period in which symptoms could emerge.

The directive also highlights the role of the aviation sector in supporting public-health emergency measures, particularly where international travel and the movement of potentially exposed persons are involved.

The no-fly directive forms part of the government’s efforts to contain the confirmed case and prevent the outbreak from developing into a wider public-health emergency.

The federal government’s response brings together aviation and health authorities to strengthen surveillance and limit the possibility of further transmission.

Ebola is a severe disease that can spread through direct contact with the blood or other bodily fluids of an infected person who has developed symptoms, or with contaminated materials. It does not spread through ordinary casual contact in the same way as airborne respiratory infections.

Health authorities have continued to emphasise the importance of early detection, prompt reporting of suspected cases and the monitoring of people who may have been exposed.