By Monsurat Abisoye
President Bola Tinubu has established a Presidential Task Force on Ebola Virus Disease preparedness and approved the immediate release of N10bn in emergency intervention funding in response to a rapidly escalating outbreak in parts of Africa.
The outbreak, which has already killed at least 349 people across the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, has been declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organisation. According to a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the task force will be chaired by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, with members drawn from relevant ministries, departments and agencies as well as state representatives.
Onanuga said the N10bn intervention will strengthen the operational preparedness of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and support national public health emergency response activities. He added that the task force was constituted following a stakeholder meeting convened by Gbajabiamila and attended by representatives from the Ministry of Interior, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, the Nigeria Immigration Service, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and the Lagos State Government, among others.
The President directed the intensification of passenger screening at all international airports, including enhanced temperature checks and crowd-control measures, as well as increased monitoring of passengers arriving on high-risk airline routes such as Air Uganda, RwandAir, Air Tanzania, Air Angola, Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airlines. He also ordered the immediate activation of referral and isolation centres at Lagos and Abuja international airports, with other airports to follow, alongside mandatory QR code-based pre-arrival health declaration systems for passengers from designated high-risk countries.
Tinubu further directed the disinfection of airport facilities including departure halls, cargo areas and baggage sections, as well as the designation of specific airports or terminals for high-risk flights and possible adjustments to flight schedules to reduce contact between high-risk and other travellers. He also mandated consultations on regulating flights from affected countries and required all states with international airports and border corridors to submit preparedness plans, funding requirements and intervention needs for coordinated implementation.
The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a species of Ebola, was first confirmed in Ituri Province of the DRC on May 15, 2026, before spreading to Uganda after a case was detected in Kampala. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reported 515 confirmed cases and 91 confirmed deaths as of June 7, while suspected cases had reached 1,037 with 349 deaths by May 29, with 283 individuals currently in isolation.
Health experts note that unlike earlier Ebola strains, there is currently no licensed vaccine or specific therapeutic treatment for the Bundibugyo virus, although early supportive care improves survival chances. Previous outbreaks recorded case fatality rates of 30 to 50 percent, while Nigeria’s 2014 Ebola outbreak recorded 20 confirmed cases and eight deaths following the entry of infected Liberian-American diplomat Patrick Sawyer through Lagos’ Murtala Muhammed International Airport.