The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Wednesday said Nigeria has now reported three cases of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus.
In an updated statement signed by Ifedayo Adetifa, director-general, the centre said the cases were detected in persons with travel history to South Africa in the last week.
Read also: Nigeria detects first case of Omicron COVID-19 variant
“The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control conducts case and genomic surveillance for inbound international travellers arriving in the country at its National Reference Laboratory, Abuja and a network of other testing laboratories. Sequencing of samples from COVID-19 positive inbound travellers is currently conducted in laboratories with sequencing capacity in the country and all the sequencing data are shared in publicly accessible databases.
“This genomic surveillance has now identified and confirmed Nigeria’s first cases of the B.1.1.529 SARS-CoV-2 lineage, now known as the Omicron variant. Samples obtained for the stipulated day two test for all travellers to Nigeria were positive for this variant in three persons with a history of travel to South Africa,” the statement read.
The centre said to follow up to ensure isolation, linkage to clinical care, contact tracing and other relevant response activities have commenced.
“Arrangements are also being made to notify the country where travel originated according to the provisions of the International Health Regulations,” the centre added.
