Ebola Alert: Nigeria Only 59% Ready for Possible Outbreak, NCDC Raises Concern Over Porous Borders

The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), Dr. Jide Idris, has revealed that Nigeria is only 59 per cent prepared to respond to a potential Ebola outbreak, raising concerns over existing gaps in the country’s disease surveillance and emergency response systems.

Global Mirror News gathered that the disclosure comes amid heightened health concerns following recent Ebola outbreaks in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which health experts fear could pose a threat to Nigeria due to increasing international travel and cross-border movements.

Speaking during an interview on Arise Television on Monday, Idris said the NCDC recently conducted a Nationwide risk assessment to evaluate the Country’s readiness to detect, contain, and respond to any possible importation of the deadly virus.

According to him, the assessment identified several weaknesses, particularly at Nigeria’s points of entry, including airports and land borders, which remain vulnerable to disease transmission.

“Our latest assessment puts Nigeria’s preparedness level at about 59 per cent. Preparedness is dynamic; you can never be 100 per cent prepared because situations keep changing,” Idris stated.

He admitted that while the Country has made significant progress since the 2014 Ebola outbreak, more work remains to be done to strengthen response mechanisms across all States.

“To be frank, we are not fully ready, but we are continuously improving our readiness. This preparedness must cover the entire country, not just a few locations,” he added.

Global Mirror News learned that the NCDC deployed advisory teams to various States to assess preparedness levels and work closely with health authorities to address identified shortcomings.

The assessment focused on critical response infrastructure, including isolation and treatment centres, emergency operations centres, healthcare facilities, laboratory capacity, and emergency stockpiles needed to manage suspected Ebola cases.

“We sent advisers to work with State Commissioners and assess their level of preparedness. We are looking at infrastructure, isolation facilities, emergency operations centres, and available stockpiles in the event of an outbreak,” Idris explained.

The NCDC boss further disclosed that one of the major findings from the assessment was the vulnerability of Nigeria’s points of entry, prompting the Federal Ministry of Health to introduce new protocols for agencies operating at airports, seaports, and border crossings.

According to him, the new measures are aimed at improving screening procedures, strengthening monitoring systems, and ensuring rapid detection of suspected cases before they enter the country.

“We carried out a dynamic risk assessment to determine where we are, what gaps exist, and what actions are required. One area that clearly stood out was our points of entry because our primary objective is to prevent the disease from entering Nigeria,” he said.

“Shortly after the assessment, the Federal Ministry of Health released protocols for various Government agencies. The goal is to regulate incoming traffic, especially through airlines and international travel routes.”

Idris noted that states hosting International Airports have been categorised as high-risk zones due to their exposure to travellers arriving from different parts of the World.

Despite efforts to tighten Airport surveillance, he warned that Nigeria’s extensive and largely porous land borders continue to pose a significant challenge to disease control efforts.

He explained that many travellers enter the country through unofficial routes that are difficult to monitor, increasing the risk of infectious diseases crossing into Nigeria undetected.

“The biggest challenge remains our porous borders. Not everyone enters Nigeria by air. Many people travel across borders by road and through informal routes. This is one of the major concerns and why preparedness is so important,” he stated.

Health authorities have assured Nigerians that surveillance activities have been intensified Nationwide, while public health institutions are working to strengthen emergency response systems to prevent any potential Ebola outbreak from gaining a foothold in the Country.