The Federal Government has assured Nigerians of its capacity to contain the Ebola outbreak, citing strengthened surveillance, contact tracing and isolation measures.

The Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Ebola Preparedness and Emerging Public Health Threats, Femi Gbajabiamila, gave the assurance on Wednesday after an emergency meeting at the State House, Abuja.

Gbajabiamila said the task force, inaugurated in June, had strengthened surveillance and response protocols, enabling the swift detection of the index case. He disclosed that about 44,000 flights had operated in and out of Nigeria since June.

He added that the infected passenger developed symptoms four days after arriving in Abuja, but established identification procedures facilitated the detection.

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, said contact tracing and isolation were ongoing, while the Federal Government had activated its incident management system in collaboration with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organisation and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Pate said states and hospitals were mobilising response capabilities to contain the outbreak, urging Nigerians to comply with public health directives and avoid spreading misinformation.