The Federal Government has placed 46 persons who had contact with a confirmed Ebola patient in Abuja on a 21-day no-fly list as part of measures to contain the spread of the virus.
Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, announced the directive on Wednesday after a virtual meeting with the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate.
Keyamo said the list comprises 44 persons who came into contact with the patient at a private hospital after she developed symptoms, and two members of her domestic staff.
According to him, while efforts are ongoing to isolate and monitor the contacts to ascertain their health status, aviation authorities have been mandated to prevent them from travelling by air for at least 21 days, the incubation period for Ebola.
“Whilst efforts are ongoing to isolate them for now until there is certainty they had not been infected with the virus, the Aviation authorities are required to put them on a no-fly list for at least 21 days (which is the period that the symptoms are normally expected to manifest),” Keyamo stated.
He said he has directed the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to immediately notify all local and international airlines operating in Nigeria about the restriction.
The minister also directed the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to heighten surveillance and response protocols across all international airports, including enhanced health screening, temperature checks, travel history tracking, digital health declarations and improved coordination with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC).
The directive comes following confirmation of an imported case of Ebola Virus Disease in the Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria’s first since 2014.
The patient, a female diplomat who recently arrived from Uganda, was confirmed to be infected with the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola on October 20, after showing symptoms since October 7.
Health authorities say the patient is currently in isolation and receiving care, while contact tracing and monitoring have been intensified.
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