No Ebola in Nigeria, Says FG

The federal government has called on Nigerians to disregard rumours of a positive case of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in the country, saying effort had been heightened at the various ports of entry into the country to ensure that people with illness coming into Nigeria are properly screened.

In a statement signed by the Director of Media and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Health, Boade Akinola, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry, Abdullaziz Abdullahi, stated that in line with the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines, a recent risk assessment conducted by the Nigeria Ebola Preparedness Team indicated that the overall risk of importation of Ebola virus to Nigeria from Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda was low.

He also described as false, an alleged message circulating on the social media purporting a positive case of Ebola Virus Disease in the country.

The permanent secretary also called on members of the public to discourage the circulation of any unverified information, which he said could cause harm to innocent people and unnecessary panic among the citizens.

Abdullahi said: “The federal government has assured its citizens that since the reports of outbreak of EVD in the Democratic Republic of Congo, heightened surveillance had been on-going at the various points of entry by officials of the Port Health Services division of the ministry to prevent importation into Nigeria.

“To this effect, every passenger with illness has been properly screened and I can say categorically that none of the patients screened has tested positive for Ebola or any other deadly disease.