Following a reported 17 deaths, from Ebola, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has directed the Federal Ministry of Health to step up surveillance at all entry points and screen all coming into the country.
Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole disclosed this to State House Correspondents after FEC, presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Prof. Adewole revealed that part of the new measures to be taken include screening passengers coming into the country.
“FEC has now directed the Federal Ministry of Health to step up emergency surveillance activities at all land and airport borders, so that we can actually keep Nigerians safe.
“What we will do is to set up an emergency operation centre, which will be chaired by Dr. Babatunde Babasanya, who actually led our efforts in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea during the outbreak in 2014.
“Not only that, we will be screening incoming passengers, particularly passengers from DRC and neigbouring countries. We will also ensure we step up all activities screening people coming in so that we will not be caught unawares.
“The Nigerian Center for Disease Control will also consider sending some teams to DRC as part of building capacity for managing the outbreak. We want to assure Nigerians that the federal government is concerned about the outbreak and will do everything possible to keep the country safe.”
