Headline

Ebola In Uganda: NCDC Ups Preparedness, Cautions Nigerians On Travel

Published

9 months ago

February 2, 2025

Following the confirmation of an outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease in Uganda, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, NCDC, has initiated measures to strengthen the country’s preparedness, advising Nigerians to shelve travels to countries affected by the disease.

The Centre also announced that there is no case of Ebola in Nigeria.

The NCDC in the public health advisory noted that though the WHO advises against any restrictions to travel and /or trade to Uganda, Nigerians and residents to avoid all but essential travel to countries with confirmed cases of the Ebola Virus Disease.

Uganda had on 30th January 2025 confirmed a case of Ebola virus disease caused by the Sudan species, in Wakiso, Mukono, and Mbale cities in Mbale district.

According to the country’s Ministry of Health, only one case has so far been reported, and one death (confirmed by post-mortem).

Forty-four contacts are being followed up. We will continue to monitor the regional and global situations.

Making these disclosures in a public health advisory signed by the NCDC Director-General, Dr Jide Idris, the Centre noted that Uganda has experience in responding to Ebola Disease outbreaks, and necessary action has been initiated.

The public advisory reads in parts, “There are no cases of Ebola virus disease in Nigeria. However, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), in collaboration with relevant Ministries, Departments, Agencies, and Partners through the National Emerging Viral Hemorrhagic Diseases (EVHD) Technical Working Group, continues these include the update of our EVD emergency contingency plan, heightened surveillance especially at the points of entry, and optimizing diagnostic capacity for EVD testing in designated laboratories in cities with international airports of entry and the National Reference Laboratory.

“In addition, all Lassa Fever testing laboratories can be activated to scale up testing if the need arises.

“Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever, is a severe, often deadly disease caused by the Ebola virus, with a fatality rate of 25-90 percent.

“There are 5 distinct species of the virus: Bundibugyo, Zaire (the most fatal of all the five strains, and responsible for the most EVD outbreaks including the 2014-2016 outbreak in West Africa), Reston, Tai Forest, and the Sudan (responsible for the outbreak in Uganda).

“The infection is transmitted from animals to humans, with human-to-human transmission occurring through direct contact with the body fluids (blood, saliva, vomit, urine, feces, sweat, breast milk, and semen of an infected person), contaminated objects, or infected animals such as fruit bats, chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys, porcupines, and forest antelope.

“The virus can also be transmitted through contact with wildlife and unsafe burial practices. The incubation period, i.e. from exposure to the development of signs and symptoms ranges from 2-21 days. “During an outbreak, those at risk of infection are health workers, family members, and others in close contact with sick people and deceased patients.

“The initial symptoms of EVD include: Sudden onset of high fever, accompanied by other nonspecific signs and symptoms such as headache, body aches, muscle pain, weakness, vomiting, and diarrhea.• Jaundice (yellowing of the eye).

“The following may occur after the onset of the above symptoms: And in severe cases, uncontrolled bleeding from orifices, dysfunction and/or failure of several body organs such as the kidneys, liver, central nervous system involvement, progressing to shock and death.

“In fatal cases, death often occurs between 8 and 9 days of the onset of symptoms.

“The Ebola virus is in the same class as the Marburg virus and are both classified as Viral hemorrhagic Fevers (VHF). Based on the dynamic risk assessment conducted in response to the recent Marburg outbreak in Rwanda, the risk of EVD is also classified as moderate. A moderate risk classification indicates that EVD, without mitigation, is likely to occur in Nigeria, with the potential for significant public health consequences. So, we need to take the necessary precautions.”

The NCDC advised Nigerians that there are vaccines and therapeutics available for some strains of the Ebola virus.

“It noted that the approved vaccine for the Zaire species (EBV) is not currently available in the country but can be obtained from the WHO Afro and does not protect against the Sudan virus.

“However, early recognition, isolation of patients, and initiation of supportive treatment, implementing infection and control measures in health facilities and homes, tracing and monitoring of contacts, and safe burial practices, significantly reduce morbidity and the probability of death.

Nigerians are, therefore, urged to adhere strictly to preventive measures such as practicing good hand hygiene – Wash your hands regularly with soap under running water or use hand sanitisers when soap and water are not readily available.

Nigerians were also advised to avoid physical contact with anyone who has symptoms of an infection with an unknown diagnosis.

“Avoid the consumption of bush meat, particularly bats and non-human primates, which are known reservoirs of the Ebola virus.

“And if you have to, ensure that such is properly prepared and cooked before consumption.

“Avoid direct contact with the blood, saliva, vomit, urine, and other bodily fluids of suspected or confirmed EVD cases.

“If you or someone you know (with a travel history to any country with Ebola cases) experiences symptoms of EVD enumerated above, call 6232 or your State Ministry of Health hotline for guidance.The NCDC also urged healthcare workers to maintain a high index of suspicion for EVD in their encounters with their patients.

“In the management of a suspected or confirmed case of EVD: Ensure strict isolation of the patient. adhere strictly to infection prevention and control (IPC) measures, including the use of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) like face masks, hand gloves, appropriate gowns etc.

”The NCDC also urged healthcare practitioners to report suspected cases immediately to the NCDC or State Ministry of Health for appropriate response and management.

“It further noted that though the WHO advises against any restrictions to travel and /or trade to Uganda, the NCDC advised Nigerian citizens and residents to avoid all but essential travel to countries with confirmed cases of the Ebola Virus Disease.

“Persons already in Nigeria but with recent travel history to or transit through countries with Ebola cases in the last 21 days who experience symptoms such as fever, muscle pain, sore throat, diarrhea, weakness, vomiting, stomach pain, or unexplained bleeding or bruising should adhere to the following guidelines: Promptly call 6232 or State Ministry of Health hotlines for assessment and testing, shelter-in-place to avoid further spread through shared transport systems (public or private) until health authorities reach out.

“Await dedicated responders for assessment and possible transport to a designated treatment center if required.”

“The NCDC pledged to continue to strengthen surveillance across the country, including all the borders and airports, especially for travelers from affected areas; alerting health workers to heighten their level of suspicion for suspected cases; enhancing our laboratory capacities for quick testing of suspected cases; as well as coordination with the WHO and the African Regional Health Authorities to monitor developments and share critical information.”
(VANGUARD)

Headline

UK Police Hunt Asylum Seeker Mistakenly Freed For Sex Offence

Published

11 hours ago

October 25, 2025

Editor

UK police were still hunting Saturday for an Ethiopian asylum seeker and convicted sex offender whose crimes sparked a wave of anti-immigration protests and who was accidentally released from prison.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “appalled” by Friday’s “totally unacceptable” error that saw 38-year-old Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu freed rather than sent to an immigration detention centre.

“This man must be caught and deported for his crimes,” the UK leader added.

Kebatu had served the first month of a one-year sentence for sexually assaulting a teenage girl and a woman, but was reportedly due to be deported when the Prison Service mistake occurred.

Kebatu’s high-profile case earlier this year in Epping, northeast of London, sparked demonstrations in various English towns and cities where asylum seekers were believed to be housed, as well as counter-protests.

Justice Secretary David Lammy said late Friday night that Kebatu was “at large in London” after he was seen boarding a train to the capital in Chelmsford, eastern England.

Essex Police, which is leading the search with the help of London’s Metropolitan Police, said Saturday that “inquiries are continuing at pace this morning to locate and arrest” him.

“Officers worked throughout the night to track his movements, including scouring hours of CCTV footage,” the force added, noting “it is not lost on us that this situation is concerning to people”.

The Telegraph reported he was wrongly categorised as a prisoner due to be released on licence and handed a £76 ($101) discharge grant.

The father of Kebatu’s anonymous teenage victim told Sky News that “the justice system has let us down”.

Police arrested the asylum seeker in July after he repeatedly tried to kiss a 14-year-old girl and touch her legs, and made sexually explicit comments to her.

He also sexually assaulted an adult woman, placing a hand on her thigh, when she intervened to stop his interactions with the girl.

At the time, Kebatu was staying at Epping’s Bell Hotel, where scores of other asylum seekers have been accommodated, and which became the target of repeated protests.

Headline

UK Is A Home, Not Hotel, Kemi Badenoch Tells Immigrants, Starmer’s Govt

Published

2 days ago

October 23, 2025

Editor

UK Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has slammed Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government over its immigration policy, declaring that Britain is “a home, not a hotel.”

Badenoch accused Labour of weakening the country’s borders and enabling mass automatic citizenship.

In a 1:11-minute video posted on her official X account on Friday, Badenoch claimed Labour’s proposed reforms could allow up to two million immigrants to automatically qualify for British citizenship starting next year.

“From next year, two million immigrants can automatically claim British citizenship. Two million people! That’s nearly twice the population of Birmingham. That’s massive,” Badenoch said in the video.

Badenoch noted that the Conservative Party has introduced a deportation bill to bring immigration down.

NDLEA intercepts drugs hidden in snails, others meant for UK, US, DRC
Among the measures she endorsed in the video were deporting all foreign criminals, mandatory age checks, no more pretending to be kids, tougher visa rules and salary thresholds, disapplying the Human Rights Act to immigration cases, and no more abusing human rights laws to judge deportations. Make asylum support repayable, and no permanent right to stay in the UK if you’ve relied on benefits.

“Until that’s law, we won’t fix this. Labour should adopt it now. It’s time to get tough. That’s what the Conservatives’ Deportation Bill delivers, and we’re going to go further. Our country is a home, not a hotel. And if we don’t defend it, no one else will.”

In the caption that came with the video, she tweeted, “Labour has blocked every single measure we’ve put forward to cut immigration and stop abuse of the system.

“Now they’re pushing one half-arsed proposal — it’s weak; it won’t work. It’s time they stopped playing games and backed our Deportation Bill.”

Headline

King Charles To Pray With Pope Leo In Historic Vatican Visit

Published

3 days ago

October 23, 2025

Editor

King Charles III will on Thursday meet Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican and make history as the first head of the Church of England to pray publicly with the pontiff for five centuries.

The 76-year-old monarch, who is the supreme governor of the Church of England, arrived in Rome on Wednesday evening with his wife, Queen Camilla, for what Buckingham Palace described as a “historic” state visit.

It will be Charles’s first meeting with Leo since the US-born pope took over as head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics in May, following the death of Pope Francis.

The royals will arrive at the Apostolic Palace at 10.45am (0845 GMT) for private talks with the pope.

The king and queen will then join an ecumenical service at midday (1000 GMT) in the Sistine Chapel led by Pope Leo and the archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, currently the senior cleric of the Church of England.

Broadcast live by Vatican media, it will be the first time a reigning English or British monarch has prayed publicly with a pope since English king Henry VIII broke with Rome in 1534.

Triggered by the pope’s refusal to annul the king’s marriage so he could marry another woman, the schism made the monarch head of the separate Church of England.

Thursday’s service, held beneath Michelangelo’s spectacular ceiling frescoes, will be centred on conservation and protecting the environment, a cause championed by Charles.

It will bring together Catholic and Anglican traditions, with the choir from the Sistine Chapel joined by that from Saint George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, one of the king’s residences.

– Schism –

The religious break between London and Rome remains, even if there has been a significant rapprochement in recent decades.

In 1961, the late Queen Elizabeth II, Charles’s mother, became the first British monarch to visit the Holy See since the split.

The law was changed in 2013 so that marrying a Catholic would no longer disqualify someone from becoming monarch — although they still have to be a Protestant themselves.

The rapprochement is important because “Anglicanism was born in reaction to the Catholic Church, and therefore in opposition,” said Hyacinthe Destivelle, a French priest and member of the Vatican’s dicastery (department) for promoting Christian unity.

This is no longer the case, despite “theological differences in recent decades”, he told AFP.

Unlike the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of England — the mother church of the world’s 85-million-strong Anglican community — ordains women and allows priests to marry.

Sarah Mullally was recently named the first female archbishop of Canterbury, the Church’s top cleric, although she has yet to officially take up her post.

– Royal Confrater –

Charles and Queen Camilla are also set to take part in a service at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, one of four major papal basilicas, which has historic links with the English crown.

The king will be made a “Royal Confrater” of the basilica and presented with a specially designed seat for use by him and future British monarchs.

Charles has visited the Vatican several times and met privately with Pope Francis on April 9, just days before the pontiff’s death.

The king sent his son and heir, William, to the funeral and his brother, Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, to Leo’s inauguration mass.

The visit comes as the Catholic Church celebrates the Jubilee, a year-long event held every 25 years, which has drawn millions of pilgrims to the Vatican.

It also comes at a delicate time for Charles, following new revelations about his brother Prince Andrew, who is mired in a scandal surrounding late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Andrew announced on Friday that he would relinquish his title as Duke of York, reportedly under pressure from Charles. He had already stepped back from royal duties in 2019.

AFP