The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has urged Nigerians to support the Federal Government’s efforts to contain the spread of Ebola by promptly reporting suspected cases to relevant health authorities.
The Director-General of NEMA, Mrs Zubaida Umar, made the call while speaking to journalists on Wednesday in Abuja, assuring the public that relevant health authorities were actively managing the situation.
Umar warned Nigerians against touching or preparing the bodies of people suspected to have died from Ebola, stressing that only trained health officials should handle such burials.
She explained that the disease spreads mainly through direct contact with the blood or other bodily fluids of an infected person who is ill, as well as through contaminated materials.
The NEMA chief advised anyone who develops symptoms such as fever, severe weakness, headache, vomiting or diarrhoea after possible exposure to the virus to seek medical attention immediately.
She also urged Nigerians to wash their hands regularly with soap and running water or use alcohol-based hand sanitisers.
Umar further cautioned against direct contact with the blood and bodily fluids of anyone suspected of having Ebola, as well as unsafe contact with wild animals and the handling of dead wild animals.
According to her, the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), the FCT Health Services Secretariat and other relevant agencies are coordinating the national response.
She confirmed that the patient had been isolated and was receiving medical care, while contact tracing and surveillance activities were ongoing.
Umar urged Nigerians to remain calm, vigilant and guided by official health information, insisting that there was no need to panic.
“Nigeria successfully contained Ebola in 2014. That experience reminds us that early detection, responsible individual behaviour, effective contact tracing and coordinated institutional action can break the chain of transmission,” she said.
