***Uganda, 10 other African countries at risk, says Africa CDC
The Lagos State Government has reassured residents that there is no immediate threat of Ebola Virus Disease in the state in spite of the evolving outbreak in parts of Central and East Africa.
The State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, in a statement emphasised that the state’s biosecurity and emergency response systems remained fully activated and outbreak-tested.
Abayomi disclosed that Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu had directed intensified surveillance, preparedness and rapid response measures across the state.
According to him, the outbreak, which has reportedly caused about 177 deaths from nearly 700 suspected cases, remains limited to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.
He added that the World Health Organisation, WHO, had classified the situation as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, largely due to the challenging terrain in the affected countries, which could complicate response efforts.
Abayomi, however, stressed that no suspected or confirmed Ebola case had been detected in Lagos State.
He said the state had over the years developed a resilient public health emergency structure capable of responding to infectious disease outbreaks such as Ebola, Lassa fever, cholera, diphtheria and influenza.
“The Lagos Biosecurity Bio-shield was built to protect and remains ready to respond to biological shocks. Preparedness for us is not a temporary reaction; it is a permanent culture embedded within our health system,” he said.
The commissioner noted that the state’s preparedness framework was first tested during the 2014 Ebola outbreak and further strengthened during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Abayomi explained that the response architecture is anchored on the Lagos State Incident Command System, headed by Sanwo-Olu as Incident Commander, to ensure rapid deployment of government resources and seamless coordination during emergencies.
He added that the Lagos State Emergency Operations Centre remained operational round-the-clock, carrying out disease surveillance and gathering real-time intelligence.
He noted that the centre functions through trained epidemiologists and disease surveillance specialists who could be deployed swiftly for outbreak investigation and containment.
The commissioner said the Lagos Mainland Hospital, also known as the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba, had sustained a high level of readiness with infectious disease experts.
The hospital, he said, has dedicated triage systems, isolation infrastructure and intensive care facilities for managing varying degrees of infectious disease cases.
He further disclosed that the Biosafety Level-3 Laboratory and Biobank Facility within the hospital had heightened surveillance operations for the diagnosis and monitoring of high-risk pathogens in collaboration with local and international public health laboratories.
According to him, the state government is also working with Port Health Authorities at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, as well as land and sea entry points.
The commissioner said the state was working in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Health, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and Nigeria Institute of Medical Research.
He said all flights arriving from Central and East Africa were receiving increased public health scrutiny as part of precautionary measures aimed at strengthening early detection and risk mitigation.
Abayomi also revealed that community health workers, Community Development Associations and civil society organisations had been integrated into the state’s disease surveillance and early warning network to ensure timely transmission of information from communities to public health authorities.
He added that emergency stockpiles, including personal protective equipment, gloves, sanitisers and other critical supplies, had been strategically positioned across key locations, while ambulance services remained on standby to support rapid response operations.
“Our focus remains firmly on prevention, early detection, prompt reporting and swift multi-sectoral response. Lagos remains vigilant, organised and safe,” he said.
The commissioner assured residents that the state government would continue to collaborate closely with the Federal Government and the NCDC to provide timely and evidence-based updates as the situation develops.
He advised residents, particularly those who recently travelled to affected areas in Congo or Uganda or had close contact with persons returning from those countries, to seek medical guidance promptly if they experience health concerns.
The commissioner urged residents to contact emergency numbers 767 or 112, or reach the Director of Epidemiology, Biosecurity and Global Health at the Lagos State Ministry of Health on 08023169485 for assistance and information.
Officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) updated the death toll from the Ebola outbreak to 204 late on Saturday, hours after the Red Cross said three volunteers had died there and Uganda confirmed three new Ebola cases.
The Officials warned high mobility and insecurity’ in the region are helping to spread the highly contagious virus, amid decades of conflict by armed groups
The Health Ministry statement said 204 deaths had been recorded in three provinces of the vast Central African country, from 867 suspected cases.
The last World Health Organization (WHO) toll on Friday put the number of deaths at 177 from 750 suspected cases.
The WHO has declared the outbreak of the highly contagious haemorrhagic fever an international emergency.
On Saturday, the African Union’s Health Agency warned that more countries on the continent were at risk of being affected by the Ebola virus, in addition to the DRC and Uganda. “We have 10 countries at risk,” said Jean Kaseya, Head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, listing Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia.
Kaseya said “high mobility and insecurity” in the region were helping spread the disease.
The new cases confirmed in Uganda on Saturday bring to five the total confirmed in the East African country since it was detected there and in the DRC on May 15. One person in Uganda has died.
The health ministry named the new patients as a Ugandan driver, a Ugandan health worker and a woman from the DRC. All are alive.
Ebola is a deadly viral disease that spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids. It can cause severe bleeding and organ failure.
The current epidemic centres on the conflict-wracked eastern DRC, where it was detected in Ituri province, which borders Uganda, before spreading to South Kivu.
The Red Cross said on Saturday that three Congolese volunteers had died in Ituri after apparently contracting Ebola there.
The three “were carrying out dead body management activities on March 27 as part of a humanitarian mission unrelated to Ebola”, said the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. “At the time of the intervention, the community was not aware of the Ebola virus disease outbreak, they are among the first known victims.”
Ebola has killed over 15,000 people in Africa in the past half-century.
On Friday, the WHO raised the risk from Ebola in the DRC to its highest level – “very high”.
It said the risk in Central Africa was “high” but the global risk remained “low”.
The outbreak, which experts suspect was circulating under the radar for some time, is caused by the less common Bundibugyo strain, for which there are no approved vaccines or treatments.
On Thursday, Uganda suspended public transport to the DRC after confirming its first two cases – one infection and one death, involving Congolese nationals who crossed the border.
It said the driver confirmed infected on Saturday had been at the wheel of the vehicle in which one of the ill Congolese nationals had travelled to Uganda.
The health worker was exposed to the virus when treating that Congolese patient.
Meanwhile, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has warned that 10 African countries are at risk of being affected by the ongoing Ebola outbreak in Central and East Africa.
The head of the agency, Jean Kaseya, disclosed this on Saturday while addressing concerns over the spread of the virus beyond the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.
“We have 10 countries at risk,” Kaseya said, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), listing Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia.
According to him, “high mobility and insecurity” in the region are contributing to the spread of the virus.
The warning comes after the World Health Organisation declared the outbreak of the highly contagious haemorrhagic fever an international emergency.
The outbreak, centred in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, has recorded hundreds of suspected cases and more than 170 suspected deaths, according to the World Health Organisation.
Africa CDC on May 18 declared the outbreak a “Public Health Emergency of Continental Security,” citing fears of wider regional transmission due to insecurity, weak health systems and population movement across borders.
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