- Safiu Kehinde
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has allayed concern over suspected Ebola case in Abuja.
This comes amid public concern and speculation following reports of suspected viral hemorrhagic fever case in the capital city.
According to a public notice made issued by FCT Epidemiologist, Dr. Lukman Lawal, a 32-year-old Estate Developer had on Thursday arrived at Nisa Premier Hospital where he was diagnosed of 10-day history of fever with epistaxis (bleeding from nose), hematemesis (vomiting blood), and melaena (bloody stool).
This had raised suspicion of possible Ebola, Marburg, Dengue, or Lassa fever case.
His medical history revealed that he had just arrived from Rwanda where he had visited multiple hospital visits over the past three weeks and received several antibiotics without resolution of symptoms.
The patient had reportedly travelled to Rwanda about one month ago for tourism where the onset of symptoms occurred.
He was advised by a Rwandan physician to test for Lassa fever before he returned to Nigeria via Rwanda Air and presented himself immediately to Nisa Premier Hospital,
In the wake of the suspected case, Lawal had alerted all relevant authorities while calling for the activation of the Area Council Rapid Response Team (RRT) for case investigation and sample transport to the designated public health laboratory.
The hospital team was also instructed to implement strict infection prevention and control (IPC) measures.
However, the FCTA would on Friday ruled out the suspected case after the patient was tested negative.
Lawal said contact tracing, sample collection, and laboratory testing were conducted without delay and results from the National Reference Laboratory returned negative within six hours.
Reacting to the development, the FCT Mandate Secretary for Health and Environmental Services, Dr. Adedolapo Fasawe, commended the patient for seeking medical attention immediately.
She also lauded the private facility that raised the alert at Nisa Premier Hospital for maintaining a high index of suspicion, and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, (NCDC) for its swift collaboration with the FCT health authorities.
“This incident shows that our surveillance system is active and alert. Every fever is not malaria. Every fever is not Ebola. What matters is early reporting and strict adherence to protocol”. She said.
Fasawe noted that two suspected Ebola-related cases have been investigated this year, but both came out negative.
She however warned against misinformation and panic while charging the media to verify information before publication.
Fasawe further urged Nigerians to make use of the toll-free line 6232 and other official NCDC platforms for reporting suspected cases of infectious diseases.
“Diseases do not know borders. With air travel, anyone can move from an endemic country to Nigeria within hours. That is why surveillance at our borders and within our communities is critical,” she said.