Lagos State has its biosecurity systems on standby after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the Ebola outbreak in Central and East Africa a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, the state’s health commissioner has said.
WHO announced on Thursday that 177 people had died from about 700 suspected cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.
The agency said the outbreak remained confined to the two countries but was occurring in a logistically difficult area that could hamper local and international responses.
Speaking on behalf of the Lagos State Ministry of Health, Commissioner for Health Prof Akin Abayomi revealed no cases resembling Ebola had been detected in Lagos so far.
Abayomi said the state maintained a resilient, outbreak-tested biosecurity framework for year-round preparedness that was ready to detect, contain and subdue outbreaks caused by pathogens of high consequence such as Lassa, Ebola and flu.
According to him, the system was tested during the 2015 Ebola outbreak, refined during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2019, and had since been used in responses to cholera, diphtheria and Lassa.
He asserted that the state’s permanent readiness architecture was led by the Lagos State Incident Command System (ICS), which is headed by Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu as Incident Commander.
The Commissioner stressed the ICS can deploy the full weight of government and ensure rapid coordination and resource deployment.
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He recalled that it was activated throughout Covid-19 and could be deployed again as required by the state executive council.
Also, the state runs a permanent Emergency Operations Centre that is always open and on standby, Abayomi said.
The centre conducts surveillance and gathers public health intelligence at community level through a network of epidemiologists and disease surveillance specialists trained to track and isolate potential transmission chains.
For clinical response, Abayomi said the Lagos State Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba maintained continuous readiness to manage confirmed cases, with dedicated triage facilities, an intensive care unit and isolation wards.
He added that the hospital’s Biosafety Level 3 laboratory and Biobank facility operated in enhanced surveillance mode to provide real-time diagnosis of high-consequence pathogens, working with reference laboratories in Lagos, Nigeria and abroad.
At entry points, Abayomi insisted the state worked closely with Port Health Authorities (PHAs) at Murtala Muhammed International Airport and at sea and land borders, alongside the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), the Federal Ministry of Aviation, the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the Nigeria Institute of Medical Research (MIMR).
He said all flights arriving from East and Central Africa were now subject to close public health scrutiny.
Abayomi added that Community Health Workers (CHWs), Community Development Associations (CDAs), and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) had been integrated into an early-warning network.
He said they raised awareness at community level and acted as frontline eyes and ears, ensuring information flowed quickly to command centres.
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