Ebola: NCDC approves N100,000 weekly stipend for contacts

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has approved a weekly payment of N100,000 per person to support people placed in isolation or quarantine during efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak in the Federal Capital Territory.

The NCDC Director-General, Dr Jide Idris, disclosed this on Sunday, saying the emergency financial support followed complaints from contacts about the cost of feeding, accommodation and maintaining their families while under public health monitoring.

Idris said the intervention was introduced to ease the financial burden on people identified as contacts and encourage them to comply with isolation and monitoring arrangements.

“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 N100,000 per person per week just to maintain their comfort and feeding, because they were complaining.”

The NCDC boss said the payment was not part of the agency’s original plan but had become necessary because of the emergency, adding that the arrangement would be reviewed as the response progressed.

Idris also warned that the responsibility for financing such interventions should not rest solely with the FCT, urging state governments to make adequate financial and logistical provisions for 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.

He said state governments must be prepared to provide resources 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 the confirmation of an imported Ebola case in Abuja on October 20.

Idris said Nigeria had recorded one confirmed case at the time of the briefing, with 53 primary contacts identified for monitoring. They include healthcare workers, household members, domestic staff and personnel involved in collecting samples from the patient.

He said the contacts were being assessed according to their level of exposure, with public health teams monitoring them for symptoms. Anyone who develops symptoms would be assessed and tested.

The NCDC has also established isolation arrangements for contacts who require them, with monitoring continuing throughout the 21-day incubation period after their last possible exposure.

Idris disclosed that one contact who reported feeling unwell had tested negative, while surveillance and follow-up activities continued.

The agency is also strengthening infection prevention and control measures in healthcare facilities, training health workers and supporting the availability of protective equipment and laboratory supplies.

The confirmed case involves a woman who travelled to Nigeria from Uganda and tested positive for the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus. She developed symptoms on October 7, sought medical attention in Abuja on October 11 and was confirmed positive on October 20.

The World Health Organisation has classified the case as an imported infection, while investigations continue to establish the likely source of exposure.

The regional outbreak has also affected the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya, highlighting the need for cross-border surveillance and rapid identification of contacts.

Nigeria successfully contained an Ebola outbreak in 2014 through case identification, contact tracing, isolation and coordinated public health measures.

Idris said the NCDC was drawing on lessons from that experience to strengthen preparedness across states, stressing that containing the current outbreak would require cooperation among government agencies, healthcare workers, affected contacts and the public.

He urged Nigerians to rely on verified information, avoid spreading rumours and cooperate with public health officials conducting contact tracing and monitoring.