The World Health Organization (WHO) today in Abuja formally declared Nigeria free of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).
At the ceremony, the outgoing Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, praised the leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan for the success, and urged the Ministry and its agencies to remain watchful, saying the ‘world war’ rages on.
“The Disease needs to be eliminated from every country of the world,” he stressed, adding that only then can each country breathe a sigh of relief.
“Nigeria has won the battle against Ebola Virus but this world war rages on on other fronts in other countries. The war certainly is not over. A reinforced Ebola Virus could still invade Nigeria. Given this risk of possibility of re-infection, there is need to maintain the state of high alertness at all our ports of entry. We cannot afford to lower our guard. This risk and the risk to other countries can only be eliminated through the setting up of a system similar to the Nigerian one under the leadership of the United Nations but with the operational wing built around ECOWAS.”
