Ebola: Keyamo directs airlines to bar 46 persons linked to outbreak from flying

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, Wednesday, directed aviation authorities to place 46 persons who had contact with the Ebola-infected person on a no-fly list for 21 days to prevent the possible spread of the virus.

Keyamo, who also directed the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, to heighten Ebola response and surveillance protocols across all international airports, said he had instructed the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, to immediately

inform all local and international airlines about the development.

He disclosed this on X, formerly Twitter, after holding a virtual meeting with the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Pate.

The minister stated: “This evening, I held a virtual meeting with the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate over the Ebola scourge. He shared with me a list of 44 persons with whom the affected person came in contact at the hospital when she had developed the symptoms and an additional two persons who are her domestic staff.

“Whilst efforts are ongoing to isolate them for now until there is certainty they had not been infected with the virus, the aviation

authorities are required to put them on a no-fly list for at least 21 days (which is the period that the symptoms are normally expected to manifest).

“I have therefore directed the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, to immediately inform all local and international airlines of this development. I have also directed FAAN to heighten Ebola response and surveillance protocols across all international airports. Measures already being implemented by FAAN include enhanced health screenings, temperature checks, travel history tracking, digital health declarations, and strict inter-agency coordination with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, NCDC, following regional outbreak alerts earlier.”