By Hadiza Mohammed, Northern Operation
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, NCDC, has approved a weekly stipend of N100,000 per person for individuals placed in isolation or quarantine following the confirmed Ebola case in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.
The Director-General of the NCDC, Dr. Jide Idris, announced this at a press briefing in Abuja on Sunday.
Idris said the emergency payment was introduced after contacts raised concerns about feeding, accommodation and family upkeep during mandatory public health monitoring.
“We are paying for their accommodation; we are paying for their feeding. Some of them are asking for a stipend to maintain their families,” he said.
“We are providing N100,000 per person per week just to maintain their comfort and feeding, because they were complaining.”
He described the intervention as an emergency measure that was not in the agency’s original response plan but became necessary to ensure cooperation.
“This was not planned for, but it is an emergency. We will continue to review it as we go along,” Idris said.
He warned that the financial burden of emergency public health response should not fall on the FCT alone, urging state governments to make adequate provisions for similar outbreaks.
“This is not the responsibility of the FCT alone. What we have to do for the FCT, we have to do for any other state, just in case,” he said.
The warning comes as health authorities intensify surveillance after an imported Ebola case was confirmed in Abuja on October 20.
According to the NCDC, Nigeria has one confirmed case so far, with 53 primary contacts identified and being monitored. The contacts include healthcare workers, household members, domestic staff and personnel who collected samples from the patient.
Idris said contacts are being categorised by level of exposure, with follow-up checks throughout the 21-day incubation period. Anyone who develops symptoms will be promptly assessed and tested.
He disclosed that one contact who reported feeling unwell has tested negative.
The confirmed case involves a woman who travelled to Nigeria from Uganda and tested positive for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola virus. She developed symptoms on October 7, sought care in Abuja on October 11 and was confirmed positive on October 20, according to health authorities.
The World Health Organisation has classified the infection as an imported case, with investigations ongoing to determine the source of exposure.
The NCDC said it is strengthening infection prevention and control in health facilities, training health workers and ensuring availability of protective equipment and laboratory supplies.
The agency is also drawing on lessons from Nigeria’s containment of the 2014 Ebola outbreak, which was achieved through coordinated case identification, contact tracing, isolation and public health interventions.
Idris urged Nigerians to rely on verified information, avoid rumours and cooperate with public health officials conducting contact tracing and monitoring.
