{"id":578,"date":"2026-07-10T13:09:53","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T12:09:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=578"},"modified":"2026-07-10T13:09:54","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T12:09:54","slug":"health-experts-raise-concerns-over-nigerias-preparedness-as-ebola-resurges-in-drc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=578","title":{"rendered":"Health Experts Raise Concerns Over Nigeria’s Preparedness as Ebola Resurges in DRC"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Agidy Goodness<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Health experts have expressed concern over Nigeria’s preparedness for another Ebola outbreak, following the resurgence of the virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), warning that weak disease surveillance, inadequate healthcare facilities, and limited public awareness could delay the detection and containment of new cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The renewed outbreak has prompted health authorities to strengthen surveillance across Nigeria, particularly at international borders and points of entry, despite the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) confirming that there are currently no reported cases of Ebola in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the outbreak in the DRC has continued to evolve, with hundreds of confirmed cases and deaths reported, Uganda has also recorded confirmed infections and fatalities, raising concerns about the risk of cross border transmission in the region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NCDC has urged serious surveillance due to increased international travel, porous borders, and the similarity of Ebola symptoms to illnesses such as malaria and Lassa fever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ ALSO:<\/strong> Challenges Persist at DELSU Agricultural Farm Despite Student Training<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking during a recent risk assessment, the Director General of the NCDC, Dr. Jide Idris, said there is currently no confirmed Ebola case in Nigeria, but stressed the need to strengthen preparedness across all 36 states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He urged frontline health workers to maintain a high level of vigilance, particularly when attending to patients with recent travel history to affected countries, or those who have had contact with confirmed or suspected Ebola cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Idris also advised Nigerians to obtain information from credible sources, avoid spreading misinformation, practise proper hand hygiene, maintain good sanitation, and promptly report unusual illnesses through established public health channels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To strengthen the country’s response capacity, the Federal Government has inaugurated a Presidential Task Force, on Ebola Virus Disease PAreparedness and Emerging Public Health Threats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ ALSO:<\/strong> Students demand Immediate Action As Kidnapping Spree Returns In Abraka<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The task force is chaired by the Chief of Staff to the President  Femi Gbajabiamila, and includes representatives from relevant ministries, departments, agencies, and state governments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government also approved an emergency intervention fund of \u20a610 billion to support preparedness activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The President’s Special Adviser on Media and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the fund would strengthen the operational readiness of the NCDC,l and enhance the country’s emergency public health response. He added that states with international airports and border crossings, alongside relevant government agencies, had been directed to submit preparedness plans, funding requirements, and intervention needs for coordinated implementation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the WHO has called for urgent international support to contain the outbreak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ ALSO:<\/strong> Between Hope and Heartbreak<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking during an interview in Bunia, the capital of Ituri Province, WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the success of containment efforts, depends largely on the speed of the global response, “It depends on how fast we respond, if we move fast and the international community provides the necessary funding and support, we can stop it, but if we don’t take it seriously, it can outsmart us,<\/em>” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A medical doctor at the Delta State University Health Centre, Dr. David Taniyohwo, said both Nigeria and the DRC could learn valuable lessons from each other’s experiences in managing infectious disease outbreaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He mentioned that, poverty, poor public awareness, and unsafe food handling practices remain major factors contributing to the spread of diseases transmitted from animals to humans.
<\/a>
“We need stronger public enlightenment and continuous health education. Ignorance and poverty remain major challenges<\/em>,” he said. When asked whether Nigeria’s healthcare system is prepared to withstand another Ebola outbreak, Dr. Taniyohwo expressed reservations, “To say that Nigeria has a truly resilient healthcare system exists only in an imaginary world, there is still a significant gap in our healthcare preparedness,<\/em>” he stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ ALSO:<\/strong> The Unpleasant Tales Of Kidnapping In Nigeria, By Riches Emuobohwo<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also stressed the important role of the media in promoting public health awareness, “Journalists should use accurate information to educate the public and help drive positive change in society,” he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As health authorities continue to monitor developments across the region, experts have emphasized the need for stronger disease surveillance, improved laboratory capacity, increased funding, public awareness campaigns, and better healthcare infrastructure to prevent and contain any potential Ebola outbreak in Nigeria.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Agidy Goodness Health experts have expressed concern over Nigeria’s preparedness for another Ebola outbreak, following the resurgence of the virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), warning that weak disease surveillance, inadequate healthcare facilities, and limited public awareness could delay the detection and containment of new cases. The renewed outbreak has prompted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":579,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"iawp_total_views":6,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,14],"tags":[25,147,148,33,28],"class_list":["post-578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthcorner","category-trendingnews","tag-delsu","tag-drc","tag-ebola","tag-health","tag-wellness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=578"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":580,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578\/revisions\/580"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}