ZAMFARA, Nigeria – The Zamfara State Government has deployed medical personnel to Gusau International Airport and major motor parks to screen travellers and strengthen surveillance against the possible spread of Ebola Virus Disease.
The state’s Commissioner for Health, Nafisa Maradun, announced the measures while leading a medical team to launch passenger screening at the airport. She said medical personnel had also been deployed to major motor parks to support early detection, identify people who may require further assessment and ensure suspected cases are reported promptly.
During the exercise, officials identified a passenger with an elevated body temperature who had arrived in Gusau after returning from Saudi Arabia. The information provided by the state government did not establish that the passenger had Ebola.
The state’s Director of Public Health Services, Yusuf Abubakar, issued further surveillance directives on behalf of the commissioner during a meeting with health stakeholders and representatives of the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service and National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).
Abubakar said Customs and Immigration officials would support surveillance at border entry points, while the NURTW would help monitor passengers at motor parks and alert health authorities to suspected cases.
He directed disease surveillance officers in all 14 local government areas to notify health facilities, intensify routine and event-based surveillance, and ensure the prompt reporting of suspected infections.
The state Ministry of Health has also commenced temperature screening, sensitisation of frontline health workers, identification of passengers requiring further assessment and activation of response mechanisms at different levels. Abubakar directed healthcare facilities to strengthen screening and triage, infection prevention and control, early identification of suspected cases, immediate notification and safe referral.
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