Our Correspondent
Nigeria has announced the detection of the new Omicron COVID-19 variant in the country.
This was confirmed by the Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, Ifedayo Adetifa in a statement.
According to Adetifa, the variant was detected in two Nigerians who arrived in the country last week.
The agency, however, said the two cases are asymptomatic, and that contact tracing has begun.
“In line with the routine travel test required of all international travelers and genomic sequencing at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) through its National Reference Laboratory (NRL), Abuja -confirmed Nigeria’s first case of the Omicron variant, also known as the B.1.1.529 lineage,” the statement reads.
“Genomic sequencing of positive cases from routine day two test for all travelers to Nigeria identified two cases of Omicron variant among travelers from South Africa who arrived in Nigeria in the last week.
“Retrospective sequencing of the previously confirmed cases among travellers to Nigeria also identified the Omicron variant among the sample collected in October 2021.
“The two recent cases though asymptomatic have been linked to clinical care and other response activities which include contact tracing have commenced. Arrangements have been made to notify their country of origin to commence in country response.”
The index case of Omicron was detected in South Africa last Tuesday, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) had subsequently designated Omicron as a “variant of concern”, calling on global leaders to take action to contain its spread.
The variant has already been detected in many countries including the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Belgium, Botswana, Israel, Australia and Hong Kong.
Recall that Canada on Sunday, reported two cases of Omicron in individuals who had recently travelled to Nigeria.
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