Nigeria Confirms Ebola Case as Outbreak Spreads Across Africa

Abuja: Nigeria has recorded its first Ebola case of Africa’s latest outbreak, in a woman who travelled from Uganda to the capital, Abuja, the government confirmed on Tuesday, adding a west African country to an epidemic that began in central Africa.

Health Minister Muhammad Pate said the patient recently arrived in Nigeria on an international flight from Uganda and was treated for several days at a private hospital before the diagnosis was confirmed. Her symptoms progressed and further tests showed she had Ebola virus. She is now in isolation and receiving medical care.

Public health teams are working to identify and monitor her contacts. It is Nigeria’s first recorded Ebola infection since 2014, though a single imported case does not by itself indicate community transmission.

The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo strain, was declared in the Democratic Republic of Congo in May and has since reached Uganda, Kenya and now Nigeria. Newsweek reported more than 9,000 infections in the DRC, where the great majority of known cases remain, mostly in the east. Kenya confirmed its ninth case on Tuesday, a 24-year-old man who was a close family member of the outbreak’s first victim there.

Africa CDC director general Jean Kaseya said the outbreak has already become the most geographically widespread Ebola outbreak in history, affecting multiple countries across three regions of Africa. He described it as an extremely serious threat and urged the international community to send funding, medical supplies and health workers.

The spread from central Africa to the east and now the west has raised concern about further transmission on a continent with busy air links.