Ebola: Uganda activates screening at airport as Nigeria raises public health vigilance
Uganda has intensified Ebola screening at the Entebbe International Airport following reports that a Nigerian woman who tested positive for the disease transited through the airport earlier this month.
The ministry of health said this in a post on X on Wednesday, adding that its Permanent Secretary, Diana Atwine, had visited the airport to reinforce public health screening procedures.
Ms Atwine also conducted a spot inspection at the airport’s border entry point to assess screening arrangements and identify potential gaps.
The ministry said it had received thermal scanners donated by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to strengthen screening at key points of entry as part of efforts to prevent the spread of Ebola.
It said Uganda had no confirmed active Ebola cases following reports that the Nigerian woman transited through Entebbe International Airport.
According to the ministry, the woman travelled to eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for business before passing through Uganda in early October.
She reportedly showed no symptoms while in Uganda but developed them after arriving in Nigeria.
Nigeria’s health authorities have confirmed an imported Ebola case involving a woman who arrived in Abuja after travelling from Uganda.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) confirmed the diagnosis through laboratory testing.
The case has prompted heightened public health vigilance, including efforts to trace contacts and strengthen surveillance to prevent further transmission.
Ebola is a severe viral disease that can spread through direct contact with the blood or other bodily fluids of an infected person who is showing symptoms, or with contaminated materials.
Early detection, prompt isolation and contact tracing are critical to containing outbreaks.
Nigeria previously recorded an Ebola outbreak in 2014 after an infected traveller arrived in Lagos from Liberia.
The country contained the outbreak through coordinated surveillance, contact tracing and infection prevention measures.
(NAN)
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