The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control  and Prevention (NCDC)

has approved an emergency payment of N100,000 per person weekly to support people placed in isolation or quarantine as part of efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

The NCDC Director-General, Dr Jide Idris, who disclosed this at a press briefing on Sunday, said the payment was introduced after some contacts complained about the cost of feeding, accommodation and maintaining their families while undergoing public health monitoring.

He said that the financial support was an emergency measure to ensure that people identified as contacts could comply with monitoring arrangements without facing additional financial hardship.

“We are paying for their accommodation; we are paying for their feeding. Some of them are asking for a stipend to maintain their families,” he said.

“We are providing N100,000 per person per week just to maintain their comfort and feeding, because they were complaining”, he added.

According to him, the intervention was not originally planned but became necessary because of the circumstances surrounding the outbreak.

He said the agency would continue to review the arrangement as the response progressed.

“This was not planned for, but it is an emergency. We will continue to review it as we go along,” he said.

He also stressed that the FCT should not be the only jurisdiction prepared to provide such support, warning that other states would need to make adequate financial and logistical provisions should similar emergencies arise.

“This is not the responsibility of the FCT alone. What we have to do for the FCT, we have to do for any other state, just in case,” he said.

State governments he said, must be prepared to provide the resources and materials required to support contact tracing, isolation and other response activities within their jurisdictions.

The payment comes as health authorities intensify efforts to prevent further transmission of Ebola following the confirmation of an imported case in Abuja on October 20.

Idris said Nigeria had recorded one confirmed case at the time of the briefing, with 53 primary contacts identified for monitoring.

The contacts include healthcare workers, household members, domestic staff and personnel involved in collecting samples from the patient.

He said the contacts were being categorised according to their exposure and followed up by public health teams, while anyone developing symptoms would be assessed and tested.

The NCDC had also established isolation arrangements for contacts requiring them, with officials monitoring their health throughout the 21-day incubation period following their last possible exposure.

He said one contact who reported feeling unwell had tested negative, adding that surveillance and follow-up were continuing.

The agency was also strengthening infection prevention and control measures in healthcare facilities, training personnel and supporting the availability of protective equipment and laboratory supplies.

The confirmed case involves a woman who travelled to Nigeria from Uganda and tested positive for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola virus.

She developed symptoms on October 7, sought medical attention in Abuja on October 11 and was confirmed positive on October 20.