About 200 people are currently under surveillance in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, in connection with Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) for having contact with an index victim.

Minister of State for Health, Dr. Khaliru Alhassan, disclosed this during an interview with journalists in Sokoto at the weekend. He appealed to those under surveillance to strictly adhere with mandates given to them by the health officials.

Alhassan noted that getting the understanding and cooperation of the public, especially those placed under quarantine, remains the greatest challenge in curtailing the virus.

The minister also reiterated that the Federal Government was committed to containing its spreading in the country.

“Our health experts are visiting them in their various houses with high professionalism. We urged them to remain calm and adhere to instructions been given to them until they are been cleared,” he said.

He assured that the scourge had already been contained in Lagos while a special team was mobilised to Rivers to contain it.

His words: “Presently, a specialised team comprising staff members of the World Health Organisation, Centre for Disease Control, Atlanta, United States and Geneva and Medecin Sans Frontiers, are already in Port Harcourt to address the situation.

“We are confident we have won the war in Lagos, though we still have one patient receiving attention there but we are still not out of the woods yet. So, Nigerians should remain calm, as we are adequately prepared to contain the spread of the scourge.”

In a related development, 39 foreigners, mostly from the Democratic Republic of Congo, have been arrested in Lagos as part of efforts to contain the Ebola disease.

Police and Immigration officials raided two hotels in the former federal capital where the suspects were apprehended; 35 of them are said to be from Congo which produced the first ever Ebola victim in 1976. Although the latest round of infections started from Guinea in West Africa, two Ebola victims have been recorded in Congo.

The four other suspects arrested in Lagos, according to police sources, hail from Sierra Leone, also battling Ebola cases.

•Based on reports in Sunday Sun and Sunday Vanguard. Photo shows doctors collecting the specimen from an Ebola patient.