Ali Pate, coordinating minister of health and social welfare, says Nigerians should remain vigilant, shun panic, and stop spreading misinformation about Ebola virus disease.
Speaking on Wednesday after meeting with Femi Gbajabiamila,
chief of staff to the president in Abuja, Pate said citizens should rely on
verified public health information from trusted sources rather than circulating
false rumours.
The minister said the federal government is collaborating
with Uganda to manage the situation.
“All I can tell you is that we are collaborating with our
sister African nation of Uganda,” Pate said.
“What is important is that we have found this one case. We
are doing contact tracing, and we are putting containment measures to ensure
that it doesn’t go into our population.”
He urged Nigerians to remain calm and communicate
responsibly, adding that the situation should be taken seriously without
causing fear.
“Nigerians should be reassured. We must be vigilant, but not
panic, and people should respect public health information from trusted
sources, and not spread misinformation and false rumours,” Pate said.
The minister said Nigeria has the public health institutions
and expertise needed to respond to the situation.
Pate added that the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and
Prevention (NCDC) had activated its incident management system (IMS), with
response teams working round the clock and the relevant task force coordinating
containment efforts.
“They are working 24/7, and the task force is also active.
So, we have things in place that give us confidence that Nigeria can weather
this public health crisis,” he said.
He said the government would continue to monitor
developments and provide updates as verified information became available.
“If the situation changes, we’ll come out and inform
Nigerians,” he said.
Pate reiterated that the immediate priority was to contain
the imported case and prevent its spread within the population.
BACK STORY
The meeting between Pate and Gbajabiamila came nearly 24
hours after the federal government announced a confirmed case of Ebola disease
in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
On Tuesday, Pate said 44 close contacts had been identified
for tracing to prevent further transmission.
He added that the patient, a woman who recently arrived in
Nigeria on an international flight from Uganda, had been admitted to a private
hospital in the FCT, where she received care for several days before the
diagnosis was confirmed.
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