ABIA, Nigeria – The Abia State Government has designated the Specialist Hospital and Diagnostic Centre in Amachara as an Ebola isolation centre as it strengthens preparedness against the disease.
The Commissioner for Information, Okey Kanu, announced the decision on Monday in Umuahia while briefing journalists on the outcome of the State Executive Council meeting presided over by Governor Alex Otti.
He said the designation would remain in place pending the completion of the Infectious Disease Hospital under construction in Aba. The move follows Nigeria’s response to the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola after the country confirmed its first case in the Federal Capital Territory on October 20, 2026.
Kanu said the state Ministry of Health had established a multi-sectoral Ebola Preparedness and Response Technical Working Group to coordinate readiness measures.
He said the group had developed a preparedness and response plan following a series of engagements. “Through several engagements, the technical working group has produced an Ebola preparedness and response plan for the state. Accordingly, the state has designated the Specialist Hospital and Diagnostic Centre, Amachara, as an isolation centre for Ebola, pending the completion of the Infectious Disease Hospital in Aba,” he said.
The commissioner also said Abia recorded no reported cases of diseases of public health importance between October 28 and November 1, 2026. He listed Ebola, Lassa fever, COVID-19, diphtheria, cholera, mpox and yellow fever among the diseases monitored by the state.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has urged states to strengthen preparedness through early detection, isolation, referral, laboratory diagnosis, infection prevention and control, contact tracing and risk communication. Abia was previously classified as a state at moderate risk of Ebola importation in the NCDC’s May 2026 preparedness advisory.
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