Nigeria’s Aviation and Aerospace Development Minister Festus Keyamo has directed the aviation regulator to alert airlines to a 21-day no-fly instruction for 46 people linked to an Ebola case, while health officials monitor possible exposures.
Keyamo instructed the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to notify domestic and international carriers. His account, reproduced by Alabingo, describes 44 people exposed at a hospital after the patient fell ill, with two members of her domestic staff bringing the tally to 46. The statement did not confirm that airlines had received the notice or stopped anyone from boarding.
Laboratory results confirmed the case in the Federal Capital Territory on Oct. 20, the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare said. The ministry said the patient was isolated and receiving treatment. It reported 44 contacts under monitoring, as did the World Health Organization (WHO). Neither update mentions the domestic staff named in Keyamo’s larger tally. The 44-contact figure also appeared in Nigeria’s earlier contact-tracing update.
WHO dates the patient’s first symptoms to Oct. 7 and her visit to a private medical facility in Abuja to Oct. 11. The agency gives Bundibugyo virus disease an incubation window of two to 21 days. Keyamo said the restriction is intended to cover the interval when symptoms may emerge.
Keyamo also instructed the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to increase checks at international airports. His statement lists passenger screening, temperature checks, travel-history reviews and digital health declarations. Channels Television reported that FAAN said it was maintaining heightened vigilance and coordinating with public-health agencies.
WHO declared Nigeria’s 2014 Ebola outbreak over on Oct. 20 of that year. The agency said the declaration followed 42 days without a new case after the last confirmed patient was discharged.
WHO classified the current case as imported and said investigators are tracing the patient’s movements and possible exposures to identify the likely source of infection. Uganda’s Ministry of Health said the patient traveled through Uganda without symptoms, a transit that does not establish where she contracted the virus.
