The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has approved an emergency payment of ₦100,000 per person weekly to support individuals placed in isolation or quarantine as part of efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak in the Federal Capital Territory.
The Director-General of the NCDC, Dr Jide Idris, disclosed this during a press briefing on Sunday, explaining that the intervention followed complaints from contacts about the cost of feeding, accommodation and maintaining their families while undergoing 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,” Idris said.
He added, “We are providing ₦100,000 per person per week just to maintain their comfort and feeding, because they were complaining.”
Idris explained that the payment was not part of the original response plan but became necessary under the circumstances.
“This was not planned for, but it is an emergency. We will continue to review it as we go along,” he said.
He stressed that the Federal Capital Territory should not be solely responsible for providing such support, noting that other states must also be prepared to fund similar interventions should an outbreak occur within their jurisdictions.
“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.
He urged state governments to make adequate financial and logistical provisions for contact tracing, isolation and other public health response activities.
The intervention comes amid intensified efforts to prevent further transmission following the confirmation of an imported Ebola case in Abuja on October 20.
Idris said Nigeria had recorded one confirmed case at the time of the briefing, with 53 primary contacts identified for monitoring. They include healthcare workers, household members, domestic staff and personnel involved in collecting samples from the patient.
He said public health teams were categorising contacts according to their level of exposure and monitoring their health. Anyone who develops symptoms would be assessed and tested.
The NCDC has also established isolation arrangements for contacts who require them, with monitoring continuing throughout the 21-day incubation period following their last possible exposure.
Idris disclosed that one contact who reported feeling unwell had tested negative, adding that surveillance and follow-up activities were ongoing.
The agency is also strengthening infection prevention and control measures in healthcare facilities, training personnel and supporting the availability of protective equipment and laboratory supplies.
The confirmed case involves a woman who travelled to Nigeria from Uganda and tested positive for the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus. She reportedly developed symptoms on October 7, sought medical attention in Abuja on October 11 and tested positive on October 20.
The World Health Organisation has identified the case as an imported infection, while investigations continue to establish the likely source of exposure. The wider regional outbreak has also affected the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya, highlighting the importance of cross-border surveillance and prompt identification of contacts.
Nigeria contained an Ebola outbreak in 2014 through case identification, contact tracing, isolation and coordinated public health action.
Idris said the NCDC was drawing on lessons from that experience to strengthen preparedness across the states.
He urged Nigerians to rely on verified information, avoid spreading rumours and cooperate with public health officials conducting contact tracing and monitoring.
