Ebola: No gathering restrictions advised for Nigeria – WHO

By Dickson Omobola The World Health Organisation (WHO), Wednesday, said it had not advised the Federal Government to restrict public gatherings following the Ebola case recorded in the country. The organisation, however, said Nigeria would need to go 42 days without another Ebola case to be declared Ebola-free, while 53 people who had contact with the patient remained under surveillance. Speaking on Arise TV, Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, clarified that the patient’s medical evacuation was carried out at the request of her country of origin and was not due to any shortcomings in Nigeria’s capacity to manage the case. Ihekweazu also commended Nigeria’s response to the case, saying the speed of laboratory confirmation and sequencing, as well as the measures taken by the government to contain the outbreak, were commendable.

He said, “We have advised the country to have appropriate response measures to this, and they have carried this out more or less to the letter. We have had excellent case management in Nigeria. Lab confirmation happened very quickly. We had the sequence happen very quickly. I think appropriate measures have been carried out. Nigerians can be proud of the response so far. We have not advised any restriction of further gatherings. Our advice is never political; it is always technical, and we will continue to support government in this response. “The key thing now is for every single contact that the patient had to be followed up with every single day, as is happening, to ensure that there is no further transmission. If there is transmission, it must be detected early and responded to appropriately. So, for now, I think the key thing is to keep this as a technical response, trust the government, and trust…