Ebola: Body of Nigerian flown from DRC tested negative, say FG, LASG
The Federal and Lagos state governments have confirmed that the body of a deceased man flown into the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by Kenya Airways on Monday has tested negative for the Ebola virus.
The federal government said against the Nigerian extant regulation, the airline brought the remains of the Nigerian without all necessary documentations that are required to process its clearance by the Department of Public Health Services, Federal Ministry of Health.
Speaking at a joint press briefing in Lagos on Thursday, organised by the Federal Ministry of Health and the Lagos state government, the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, said that a test was carried out and had tested negative for the virus.
Citing medical confidentiality, Adewole however, declined to speak on the cause of death of the deceased while revealing that the government of Nigeria and relevant agencies condemn the deliberate breach of protocol at the nation’s airport by Kenya Airways.
Findings by the Daily Times revealed that the body was subjected to rigorous tests, to ascertain if the death of the deceased was caused by the Ebola virus since the DRC is currently facing another outbreak of the deadly haemorrhagic fever.
According to the minister, to avert any possible outbreak after the said breach, the officials of Port Health and Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and Lagos state Ministry of Health investigated the cause of death of the human remains and took samples for laboratory investigation.
“We are happy to inform Nigerians that the laboratory report showed that there is no evidence of Ebola infection or any other contagious infections in this human remains.
“We assure everyone to go about their normal business without any anxiety. Government will want everyone to be vigilant and encourage all our officials at land, sea and air borders to continue screening of international passengers”, he said
Adewole noted that in line with Industry practice, a report has been made to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority(NCAA), the regulatory agency of the Nigerian aviation industry on the occurrence.
He pointed out that necessary steps were being taken by the regulatory authority to sanction the airline in a bid to prevent future occurrences.
“We have commenced a detailed investigation by all relevant agencies of government to determine the immediate and remote intentions of this unfortunate behaviour,” he said.
Adewole revealed that the federal government instituted a ban on the repatriation of human remains into the country in all points of entry as a precautionary measure to avoid importation of any infectious disease.
According to him: “This ban was one of the interventions we undertook as a nation during the Ebola outbreak. The Federal Ministry of Health, Port Health Division issued guidelines to all airlines (foreign and Local) on the procedures to be followed to obtain a waiver before repatriating any human remains into the country.”
He reiterated that the ban was still in force, warning that any attempt to contravene this ban will attract serious sanction.
Recently, the World Health Organisation (WHO) alerted the world on the recent outbreak of Ebola in Democratic Republic of Congo which made Nigeria stepped up its surveillance activities at the airports.
