Lagos intensifies Ebola surveillance at MMIA amid Central, East Africa outbreak

The Lagos State Government has advocated measures that would reduce interaction between passengers arriving from high-risk countries and other travellers, while maintaining efficient airport operations.

The Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, on Sunday, said the move was critical as the state steps up surveillance and preparedness measures at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) to prevent the transmission of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) into Nigeria.

This, he said, was crucial as concerns grew over the resurgence of the deadly viral infection in parts of Central and East Africa.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the move comes amid heightened vigilance by health authorities following reports of Ebola outbreaks in affected African countries, prompting Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub and principal international gateway, to reinforce its biosecurity architecture against potential cross-border transmission.

Leading a high-level delegation on an inspection and preparedness tour of MMIA, Abayomi said Lagos could not afford to be complacent given its position as the country’s busiest entry point and its experience during Nigeria’s historic Ebola outbreak in 2014.

The delegation were the Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, Dr Kemi Ogunyemi; Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr Dayo Lajide.

Other delegates included the Director of Epidemiology, Biosecurity and Global Health, Dr Ismail Abdus-Salam; and senior officials of the Lagos State Public Health Emergency Operations Centre (PHEOC).

The team was received by airport authorities led by the Airport Manager and Regional General Manager, South-West MMIA, Olatokunbo Arewa, alongside officials from Port Health Services, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and other agencies.

During the inspection, both teams reviewed passenger movement systems, disease surveillance mechanisms, infection prevention and control procedures, emergency response plans and opportunities for stronger collaboration between state and federal authorities.

Speaking during the engagement, Abayomi recalled Nigeria’s successful containment of Ebola after the virus was imported into Lagos from Liberia in July 2014, describing the episode as one of the country’s greatest public health achievements.

He noted that the outbreak, which threatened to spiral into a national crisis, was eventually contained through aggressive contact tracing, surveillance and the sacrifice of frontline health workers, including the late Dr Ameyo Adadevoh, whose actions prevented wider transmission.

According to the commissioner, the experience underscored the need for constant vigilance against highly infectious diseases in an increasingly interconnected world.

Abayomi warned that diseases such as Ebola, COVID-19 and Lassa fever continue to pose significant risks because of the volume of international travel and global mobility.

He stressed that the lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic had further strengthened collaboration between Lagos State and federal agencies operating at MMIA, leading to the establishment of one of Nigeria’s most robust passenger surveillance systems.

The commissioner described MMIA as Nigeria’s most important point of entry, handling approximately 70 per cent of international passenger traffic into the country.

Given this strategic position, he said the airport remains the most likely route through which imported infectious diseases could enter Nigeria.

Abayomi explained that the objective of the state’s engagement with airport authorities was not to disrupt travel but to strengthen systems capable of detecting and responding swiftly to potential health threats.

“Our objective is to create a bottleneck for the virus, not for passengers,” he said.

He identified early detection, rapid isolation, safe evacuation of suspected cases and enhanced digital monitoring of travellers arriving from countries of concern as critical priorities.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, Dr Kemi Ogunyemi, emphasised that disease prevention required a coordinated, multi-sectoral approach involving all levels of government and frontline personnel.

She noted that airport workers constituted the first line of defence against imported diseases because they are among the earliest officials to interact with incoming travellers.

“The frontline actually begins here at our ports of entry.

“As passengers arrive, you are among the very first people to interact with them, making your role critical in our disease surveillance and response efforts,” she said.

Ogunyemi conveyed Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s support to airport personnel and described health security as an integral part of national security.

According to her, the threat posed by Ebola deserves the same urgency and attention accorded to other major security challenges confronting the country.