Lagos govt intensifies surveillance at airport amid Ebola outbreak

The Lagos State Government has advocated measures that would reduce interaction between passengers arriving from high-risk countries and other travellers, following the outbreak of Ebola in East and Central Africa.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, made this known on Sunday, May 31, 2026.

Abayomi said the move was critical as the state steps up surveillance and preparedness measures at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport to prevent the transmission of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) into Nigeria.

This, Abayomi said, was crucial as concerns grew over the resurgence of the deadly viral infection in parts of Central and East Africa.

The commissioner said Lagos could not afford to be complacent given its position as the country’s busiest entry point and its experience during Nigeria’s historic Ebola outbreak in 2014.

During the inspection at the airport, both teams reviewed passenger movement systems, disease surveillance mechanisms, infection prevention and control procedures, emergency response plans and opportunities for stronger collaboration between state and federal authorities.

Speaking during the engagement, Abayomi recalled Nigeria’s successful containment of Ebola after the virus was imported into Lagos from Liberia in July 2014, describing the episode as one of the country’s greatest public health achievements.

He noted that the outbreak, which threatened to spiral into a national crisis, was eventually contained through aggressive contact tracing, surveillance and the sacrifice of frontline health workers, including the late Dr Ameyo Adadevoh, whose actions prevented wider transmission.

According to the commissioner, the experience underscored the need for constant vigilance against highly infectious diseases in an increasingly interconnected world.

Abayomi warned that diseases such as Ebola, COVID-19, and Lassa fever continue to pose significant risks because of the volume of international travel and global mobility.

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He stressed that the lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic had further strengthened collaboration between Lagos State and federal agencies operating at the Lagos airport, leading to the establishment of one of Nigeria’s most robust passenger surveillance systems.

Abayomi explained that the objective of the state’s engagement with airport authorities was not to disrupt travel but to strengthen systems capable of detecting and responding swiftly to potential health threats.

He identified early detection, rapid isolation, safe evacuation of suspected cases and enhanced digital monitoring of travellers arriving from countries of concern as critical priorities.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has maintained that there is currently no Ebola case in Nigeria.

The agency, however, stressed that sustained vigilance, surveillance, and collaboration remain essential to preventing the importation and spread of the disease as outbreaks continue to evolve elsewhere on the continent.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) had warned that the Ebola outbreak linked to the Bundibugyo virus disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda continues to evolve rapidly, with increasing case numbers, geographic spread, and ongoing cross-border transmission.

It disclosed that as of May 27, 906 suspected cases and 223 deaths have been reported in DR Congo.

The WHO added that as of May 29, 134 confirmed cases, including nine in Uganda, with 18 deaths have been reported across both countries.

The WHO said one confirmed case, an individual from the United States who had treated patients in DR Congo, has since been receiving treatment in Germany.