The government of Cameroon has ordered the closure of its borders and the suspension of all flights to and from Nigeria.
This is to avoid the spread of the deadly Ebola disease into the country.

Cameroon has a border boundary of over 2, 000 kilometres in Borno, Adamawa, Taraba, Benue and Cross Rivers states in Nigeria.
Speaking yesterday on a special programme of the Hausa Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in Maiduguri, the spokesman of Cameroon Foreign Affairs, Chiroumma Boukkari said the decision to shut the borders with Nigeria has become imperative, because of the fear of Ebola that is currently threatening the West African region.
According to him, “This decision on border closure and suspension of all flights to and from Nigeria is to protect the lives of Cameroonian citizens living within and outside from contracting Ebola, as Nigeria, our main trading partner in Africa had been facing since July 20, 2014 when Patrick Sawyer sneaked into the country aboard a flight with the deadly virus.”

He however, noted that the border closure and temporary suspension of flights to and from Nigeria will not last longer than a month. “The border closures with our main trading partner will be lifted as soon as Nigeria contains the spread of the deadly viral disease. We also urge all border security agencies of the two countries to be vigilant by complying with this border closures made yesterday (Saturday) by the foreign office here in Ngaudore,” said Boukkari.

The Cameroonian government has decided to close its borders with neighboring Nigeria in a move aimed at preventing the spread of the Ebola disease.

Government spokesperson and Communication Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary made the announcement on Monday.

“We are on the way to close the border with Nigeria because of Ebola,” the Cameroonian official said.

Bakary did not release a specific date when the border would be closed.

So far, there have been no reports of Ebola cases in Cameroon, which shares a 2,000-kilometer border with Nigeria.

This comes as an information sharing and working session on Ebola was held in the African Union headquarters in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has also called on Ebola-affected countries to begin exit scanning for all passengers departing international airports, seaports, and ground crossings.

The virus spreads through direct contact with infected blood, feces or sweat. It can also be spread through sexual contact or the unprotected handling of contaminated corpses.

Ebola was first discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976 in an outbreak that killed 280 people. It remains one of the world’s most virulent diseases, which kills between 25 to 90 percent of those who fall sick.

According to WHO, the virus has already killed at least 1,145 people in African countries, including in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Nigeria.