Nigeria confirms first Ebola case in a decade, traces 44 contacts

Nigeria has confirmed its first Ebola case in a decade after a woman who travelled to Abuja through Uganda tested positive, health authorities said. The case is Nigeria’s first in the regional outbreak that began in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The woman arrived in Abuja on October 3, began showing symptoms on October 7 and was admitted to a private hospital on October 11. She is being treated in isolation. Authorities have identified 44 contacts, including health workers, patients, caregivers and travel contacts, and are monitoring them while strengthening infection-control measures at the hospital.

At an emergency meeting Wednesday, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention officials said three molecular tests identified the virus as the Bundibugyo strain, which is driving the outbreak in Congo. The World Health Organization also confirmed the strain, according to Dawn. An official described the patient as a diplomat and said her condition had deteriorated to multi-organ failure.

Uganda’s Health Ministry said the woman had travelled to eastern Congo for business and passed through Uganda in early October without symptoms. It said her place of exposure remained under investigation and that transit through Uganda did not establish where she contracted the virus. Uganda also said it had no active confirmed Ebola cases at the time of its statement.

More than 9,000 infections and 4,300 deaths have been reported in the wider outbreak, mostly in Congo. Kenya has recorded nine cases in a single known cluster.