Nigeria is ramping up defences at its borders after the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) confirmed a deadly resurgence of the Ebola virus in Kasai Province, where 28 suspected infections and 16 deaths have been recorded, among them four health workers.
Health officials in Kinshasa said laboratory tests on September 3 identified the culprit as the Zaire strain, the most aggressive form of the virus. The flare-up adds to the DRC’s troubled history with Ebola — the country has endured 15 outbreaks since the disease was first discovered within its borders in 1976.
In Abuja, the Director of Port Health Services, Dr. Akpan Nse, told reporters that Nigeria had moved quickly to tighten monitoring at all entry points. Teams at airports, seaports and land crossings have been reinforced, with additional staff recruited to scale up surveillance. “Every traveller with a link to Congo is now being screened, even those merely transiting through,” he said, stressing that medical forms and temperature checks are compulsory.
Thermal scanners, often the first line of detection, have also been upgraded in partnership with private organisations. According to Nse, these measures are designed to prevent the importation of the virus, particularly given the high volume of travel between Nigeria and the DRC.
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The renewed outbreak comes as Central and West Africa grapple with overlapping crises, from cholera and malnutrition to widespread displacement. In Kasai itself, Ebola last appeared in 2007 and 2008; the most recent nationwide outbreak, in Equateur Province in 2022, was contained within three months.
Ebola is rare but highly lethal, transmitted through contact with infected bodily fluids or contaminated objects. Fruit bats are believed to be its natural hosts.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has released $500,000 from its Contingency Fund for Emergencies to bolster the response in Congo. WHO chief Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirmed that staff were already on the ground in Kasai, with reinforcements on the way.