Nigeria has placed 46 people linked to the country’s confirmed Ebola case on a 21-day no-fly list as authorities intensify efforts to prevent the virus from spreading.
Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development Festus Keyamo announced the directive after a virtual meeting with the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate.
Keyamo said health officials had identified 44 people who came into contact with the infected woman at a hospital after she developed symptoms, as well as two members of her domestic staff.
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority has been directed to notify domestic and international airlines of the restriction and prevent the identified contacts from travelling by air while health authorities determine whether they have contracted the virus.
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria has also been ordered to strengthen Ebola surveillance at all international airports.
Measures include enhanced health screening, temperature checks, travel-history monitoring, digital health declarations and closer coordination with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
The action follows Nigeria’s confirmation of an imported case of Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease in the Federal Capital Territory.
According to the World Health Organization, the patient is a woman with recent travel history to Uganda.
She developed symptoms on October 7, sought treatment at a private Abuja health facility on October 11 and tested positive on October 20.
The WHO said the patient is receiving care in isolation, while Nigeria’s health authorities investigate her travel and exposure history.
The NCDC has activated its emergency response system and begun contact tracing and infection-prevention measures at the facility where she was treated.
The case is Nigeria’s first confirmed Ebola infection in about a decade. Reuters reported that the woman had travelled through Uganda after visiting the Democratic Republic of Congo, where a Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak is ongoing.
Uganda has said it has no active Ebola cases and that travelling through the country does not establish where the infection occurred.
The Bundibugyo strain has an incubation period of between two and 21 days. The NCDC says there is currently no approved vaccine or specific treatment for the strain, making early detection, isolation, contact tracing and strict infection- control measures critical.
The WHO has advised countries to strengthen surveillance and preparedness but urged against broad restrictions on travel or trade with affected countries.
Nigeria’s no-fly order applies specifically to identified contacts under monitoring and does not amount to a general travel ban.
