Combating the zoonotic trio of Ebola virus disease, Lassa fever, and COVID-19 in Nigeria: a retrospection of the challenges and lessons

Abstract

Various infectious disease outbreaks linked to zoonotic sources have been recorded over the years, some of which have resulted in epidemics on a national, regional, or global scale. In Africa, a number of such outbreaks occur intermittently, especially in countries like Nigeria with a high-risk of epidemiological transmission. Three viral outbreaks with zoonotic links have hit the Nigerian healthcare system hardest, which are the Ebola virus disease, Lassa fever and Coronavirus disease 2019. Due to the fragile nature of the Nigerian health system, several challenges were encountered in the process of responding to these viral outbreaks, some of which included inadequate healthcare infrastructure, limited diagnostic capacity, unfledged nature of emergency response, unsatisfactory remuneration of health workers, misinformation trends, amongst others. By reminiscing on the challenges and lessons learnt from these viral disease outbreaks, the Nigerian government and policymakers will be able to adopt more effective approaches towards emergency preparedness for future outbreaks of infectious diseases.