It also said despite the suspension of the industrial action embarked upon by the Nigerian Medical Association, the recent suspension of residency programmes in hospitals was still in force.
Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, said this while answering questions from State House correspondents after the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting.
The minister warned Nigerians to avoid moving from panic to euphoria which was capable of constituting problem as the nation tackles the virus.
He explained that while the country could be said to have been successful in the containment of the disease, it would be wrong to say the disease has been eliminated.
He said while all the primary and secondary contacts of the index case, Patrick Sawyer, had been traced, that does not stop any other infested person from other parts of the country to bring the virus again.
He added that though the country currently has an established case it is managing, that patient might also have her own contacts.
He said, “As we speak, there is a case we are still managing. And even that case we are still managing must also have had her own third degree contacts, many of whom are part of this number of people that are under surveillance.
“So, until we give a clean bill of health to every contact, we cannot even say we have eliminated the disease.
“We will only stop being at risk when the very last case of Ebola virus disease under this current epidemic has gone.
“There is still a chance one of the people under surveillance may fall sick and test positive.
“We have done well on containment but by no means have we eliminated the problem in Nigeria.”
Chukwu said as long as there is still a case of Ebola in the world and people are allowed to travel, every country is at risk.
He said by the definition of the World Health Organisation, one case constitutes an epidemic for Ebola and Lassa Fever because they are deadly, saying “there is still epidemic despite that we have only one case.”
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