FIC Report (Lagos State) – The Federal Government and the Lagos State Government have intensified emergency biosecurity measures and digital health screening protocols at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport to prevent the importation of the Ebola virus into Nigeria. With the airport handling roughly 70% of the country’s international passenger traffic, health officials have activated rapid isolation systems and placed the Public Health Emergency Operations Centre on 24-hour alert following a recent spike in virus cases across parts of East and Central Africa. Travelers arriving in Lagos should expect mandatory temperature checks, visual health assessments, and the requirement to fill out digital travel health forms detailing their recent travel history and current physical well-being. To navigate the airport smoothly, incoming passengers must ensure they have stable internet access or pre-filled digital health passes, truthfully declare any contact with sick individuals, and corporate fully with border officials to avoid unnecessary flight and processing delays.
Ebola is a severe, often fatal illness that spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids like blood, sweat, vomit, or saliva of an infected person or animal, meaning it does not spread through the air like a common cold or flu. Travelers and the general public must arm themselves with the knowledge of key symptoms, which include a sudden high fever, intense body weakness, muscle pain, severe headache, sore throat, followed by vomiting, diarrhea, and in advanced stages, unexplained bleeding. The best defense against this threat remains strict personal hygiene, such as washing hands regularly with soap and water, using alcohol-based hand sanitizers, and avoiding contact with anyone showing symptoms or handling items that have touched an infected person. In the event of a medical emergency, or if a traveler begins to experience these symptoms within 21 days of arrival, the Lagos State Ministry of Health urges the public to remain calm and immediately call the official emergency hotlines at 08023169485 or 08033565529 for rapid medical intervention.
Gloria Dawodu
CI&PRO
1st June, 2026
