Ebola patient in Switzerland, Nigeria free of active cases: Lagos stays alert – and distrust grows
After the first Ebola patient in more than a decade was moved to Switzerland, Nigeria no longer has an active case. Lagos is nevertheless stepping up checks at its airport, while online the question of where the ten billion naira for Ebola preparedness went is growing louder.
What happened
On 20 October Nigeria confirmed its first Ebola case in more than a decade: a woman who had arrived from Uganda, the wife of a Swiss diplomat, had been treated at a private clinic in Abuja. On Monday morning she was flown to Switzerland together with her husband, who has no symptoms, Premium Times reported.
The World Health Organization then said Nigeria had no active confirmed case. The disease control agency NCDC is, however, still monitoring 53 contacts, including health workers and domestic staff, for 21 days each. Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate stressed that the transfer took place under strict protective protocols.
So far the Bundibugyo variant of Ebola has mainly affected the capital, Abuja. Lagos, Nigeria's largest city and home to its main international airport, reports no suspected case.
The mood on the ground
In Lagos the government is calling for calm and vigilance: Health Commissioner Akin Abayomi urged residents to stay calm but alert, according to Leadership. Passenger screening has been stepped up at Murtala Muhammed International Airport. Radio station Wazobia FM is explaining to its audience in Pidgin that early Ebola symptoms can resemble malaria, and is sharing the emergency numbers 112 and 767.
Online, relief is turning into distrust: according to Peoples Gazette, many users are demanding to know what happened to the ten billion naira President Tinubu approved in June for an Ebola task force; some allege the Ebola scare was a pretext. The presidency counters that the money remains "untouched".
Quarantine is also causing frustration: some contacts complained, according to Leadership, that they can neither meet family obligations nor run their businesses. The authorities are providing food and are considering weekly payments of 100,000 naira. NCDC head Jide Idris also rejected claims that the patient had been secretly taken out of the country.
Voices from the media
According to Nigeria's health minister, the patient is being treated at Geneva University Hospitals, while her husband is in isolation at University Hospital Zurich.
Sources
This article was rewritten from local-language sources. Every statement about the mood is based on the linked reports.