Nigeria confirms first Ebola case of current outbreak in Abuja

Nigeria has confirmed its first known Ebola case in the current outbreak after a woman who travelled from Uganda tested positive in Abuja. Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate said on Tuesday that the patient was in isolation and receiving medical care. The woman arrived on an international flight from Uganda, began showing symptoms on October 7 and was admitted to a private Abuja hospital on October 11, according to DW.

Laboratory testing subsequently confirmed the infection. Authorities have identified 44 close contacts and begun tracing people who may have been exposed, including healthcare workers, patients, caregivers and travel contacts. France 24 reported that the patient spent several days in the private hospital before her diagnosis was confirmed.

Uganda’s health ministry later said the country had no confirmed active Ebola cases and stressed that travelling through Uganda did not establish that infection occurred there. The case makes Nigeria the first West African country to report an infection linked to the current crisis, according to the BBC. Nigeria previously contained an Ebola outbreak in 2014, when at least eight people died.

Since then, the country has increased surveillance, laboratory capacity, isolation procedures, contact tracing and public health messaging. The current outbreak involves Bundibugyo ebolavirus, a comparatively rare strain. The reports differ slightly in their estimates of the toll in the Democratic Republic of Congo: DW cited more than 9,000 confirmed cases and more than 4,300 deaths, while the BBC cited more than 9,500 cases and at least 4,600 deaths.

Both accounts described the DRC as the main centre of the outbreak. Kenya has reported nine infections, with most linked to an initial case who died in Nairobi. France 24 said the ninth patient was a 24-year-old close family member of the first victim and was already in quarantine when he became ill.

Uganda earlier reported infections and was declared free of Ebola in August after reaching 42 days without a confirmed case. Africa CDC director general Jean Kaseya called the outbreak an “extremely serious threat” and said it had become the most geographically widespread Ebola outbreak, affecting several countries in three African regions. The virus is less readily transmitted than influenza or Covid-19 but is far more dangerous to those infected.

The Bundibugyo strain has no approved vaccine or treatment, although trials are under way, according to the BBC.