Yesterday, Tuesday, the Nigerian Ministry of Health announced that an infection with the Ebola virus had been recorded in the capital, Abuja, after a woman who had arrived from Uganda tested positive for the virus.
Nigerian Health Minister Muhammad Ali Bati said – in a statement – that the infected person was on a flight coming from Uganda, and was admitted to a private hospital, “where she received care for several days before the diagnosis was confirmed, and she is currently in isolation and receiving medical care.”
Patti stated that the authorities have begun tracking 44 people who had contact with the patient. “We are doing our best to contain this case by tracing all the people who may have been in contact with this woman,” he said.
According to the Nigerian authorities, the woman began showing symptoms on October 7, and she was admitted to a private hospital in Abuja on October 11, where she was later diagnosed with Ebola. It is not yet clear when the woman arrived in Nigeria.
The Nigerian authorities did not reveal her nationality. The ministry said in a statement: “Passing through Uganda does not necessarily mean that infection occurred there; the site of exposure to the virus is still under investigation.”
With the registration of this case, Nigeria becomes the latest country to report an infection with the Ebola virus, in light of the spread of the virus in the region. Kenya confirmed its first infection earlier this month, and has since recorded 9 infections.
Creeping danger
Uganda had previously recorded cases of Ebola, but was later declared free of the virus. The Ugandan Ministry of Health stated that the patient – a Nigerian woman who was on a business trip to the eastern region of the Republic of the Congo – had only passed through Uganda. The ministry confirmed that Uganda “is not currently witnessing any confirmed or active cases of Ebola infection.”
In a post on the
He added: “The outbreak of the Ebola virus of the ‘Bundibugyo’ strain has become the most geographically widespread in history, as it affected several countries distributed over 3 regions in Africa.”
Alert
Two weeks ago, the Nigerian Center for Disease Control announced the intensification of monitoring and surveillance operations following the discovery of Ebola cases in Kenya, in order to enhance the country’s preparedness to confront any possible outbreak of the virus.
“These efforts focused on early detection, isolation and referral, laboratory diagnosis, infection prevention and control, contact tracing, risk communication, and protection of health care workers,” the center stated.
Nigeria established an Ebola task force in June, following the outbreak of the virus in Congo in mid-May.
Announcing the formation of the task force, Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, said, “We do not want a repeat of what happened during the previous outbreak, where someone carrying the virus entered the country, and everyone rushed to respond. We have come a long way and have put in place structures to deal with any potential threat.”
The spread of the Ebola virus outside Congo’s borders has exacerbated long-standing concerns among health authorities about the speed of transmission of the rare “Bundebugyo” virus, which has infected more than 9,500 people and killed more than 4,600 others.
According to the World Health Organization, the current virus outbreak is the fastest spreading ever, and is on track to surpass the deadliest outbreak in history. This is the wave that struck West Africa between 2014 and 2016, resulting in the death of 11,000 people. Nigeria was among the affected countries at the time, where 20 infections were recorded, before the outbreak of the virus was announced in the country after 3 months.