NCDC APPROVES N100,000 WEEKLY SUPPORT FOR EBOLA CONTACTS IN ISOLATION
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By Aishat Momoh. O.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has approved a weekly payment of ₦100,000 per person to support individuals placed in isolation or quarantine as part of efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak in the Federal Capital Territory.
The Director-General of the NCDC, Dr Jide Idris, disclosed this during a press briefing on Sunday, explaining that the intervention followed complaints from some contacts about the cost of feeding, accommodation and maintaining their families while undergoing public health monitoring.
Idris said the financial support was introduced as an emergency measure to ensure that people identified as contacts could comply with monitoring arrangements without facing additional financial hardship.
“We are paying for their accommodation; we are paying for their feeding. Some of them are asking for a stipend to maintain their families,” he said.
He added, “We are providing ₦100,000 per person per week just to maintain their comfort and feeding, because they were complaining.”
The NCDC chief explained that the intervention was not originally planned but had become necessary under the circumstances surrounding the outbreak.
“This was not planned for, but it is an emergency. We will continue to review it as we go along,” Idris said.
He stressed that the Federal Capital Territory should not be the only jurisdiction prepared to provide such support, warning that other states would also need adequate financial and logistical arrangements to respond to similar emergencies.
“This is not the responsibility of the FCT alone. What we have to do for the FCT, we have to do for any other state, just in case,” he said.
According to Idris, state governments must be prepared to provide the resources and materials required for contact tracing, isolation and other public health response activities within their jurisdictions.
The intervention comes as health authorities intensify efforts to prevent further transmission following Nigeria’s confirmation of an imported case of Ebola in Abuja on October 20, 2026.
Idris said the country had recorded one confirmed case as of the briefing, with 53 primary contacts identified for monitoring. The contacts include healthcare workers, household members, domestic staff and personnel involved in collecting samples from the patient.
He said the contacts had been categorised according to their level of exposure and were being monitored by public health teams. Anyone who developed symptoms would be assessed and tested.
The agency had also established isolation arrangements for contacts requiring them, with health officials monitoring their condition throughout the 21-day incubation period following their last possible exposure.
Idris disclosed that one contact who reported feeling unwell had tested negative, adding that surveillance and follow-up activities were continuing.
The NCDC was also strengthening infection prevention and control measures in healthcare facilities, training personnel and supporting the provision of protective equipment and laboratory supplies.
The confirmed case involves a woman who travelled to Nigeria from Uganda and tested positive for the Bundibugyo virus, a strain of Ebola. She developed symptoms on October 7, sought medical attention in Abuja on October 11 and tested positive on October 20.
The World Health Organisation has confirmed the imported case and said investigations were ongoing to establish the likely source of infection and reconstruct the patient’s travel and exposure history.
The outbreak has also affected the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya, highlighting the importance of cross-border surveillance and rapid identification of contacts.
Nigeria previously contained an Ebola outbreak in 2014 through case identification, contact tracing, isolation and coordinated public health action.
Idris said the NCDC was drawing on lessons from that experience while strengthening preparedness across states. He stressed that containing the current outbreak would require cooperation among government agencies, healthcare workers, affected contacts and the wider public.
He urged Nigerians to rely on verified information, avoid spreading rumours and cooperate with public health officials conducting contact tracing and monitoring.
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