The Federal Government has confirmed a case of Ebola Virus Disease in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Ali Pate, who disclosed this on Tuesday, said the case involves a woman who flew into Nigeria from Uganda.
According to the minister, the patient had been on admission in a private hospital in the FCT for some days before laboratory tests confirmed she was infected with the virus.
He said the woman has been isolated and is under strict medical monitoring while health authorities work to prevent further spread.
In response, public health teams have commenced contact tracing of 44 persons who had direct contact with the patient, with plans to identify more possible contacts.
Those to be monitored include health workers, other patients, caregivers and co-passengers who may have interacted with her during her trip, as contained in an alert sent to state ministries of health.
The Federal Ministry of Health, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and the FCT Health Services Secretariat are jointly coordinating the containment efforts, including strengthening infection prevention measures at the affected hospital and heightening surveillance nationwide.
Pate urged all health facilities to stay vigilant, watch out for symptoms such as fever, severe weakness, headache, vomiting and diarrhoea, isolate suspected cases immediately and report promptly, while advising the public to avoid close contact if symptomatic and contact health authorities before visiting any hospital.
