Nigeria confirms Ebola case, as Congo outbreak spreads

Nigeria has become the fifth country to detect the rapidly-spreading Ebola strain, with its first confirmed case in a woman who traveled from Uganda.

The patient started showing symptoms on Oct. 7, four days after her arrival in the Western African country. She was later admitted to a private hospital in the capital Abuja, where laboratory testing confirmed the Ebola diagnosis, the country’s health minister and the World Health Organization said Tuesday. She is currently in isolation and receiving medical care.

Nigeria’s health ministry and disease agency are working with the WHO and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to “contain that infection and prevent its further spread.”

The case underscores the difficulty in stopping the spread of the highly-infectious disease. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, the epicenter of the outbreak, is currently grappling with the fastest-growing and deadliest Ebola outbreak in the country’s history, caused by the Bundibugyo strain for which there are no approved vaccines or treatments. As of Oct. 19, Congo reported 9,552 confirmed cases, including 4,602 related deaths.

In Nigeria, where there is a more established private health care market and less reliance on international aid for services, health authorities are working to track down and monitor people who may have been exposed, with 44 close contacts already identified.

“There is no need for panic,” the health ministry wrote on social media. “What matters is staying informed, practising good hand hygiene, knowing the symptoms and seeking guidance from public health authorities if you suspect exposure.”

The disease has also recently spread to Kenya, in Eastern Africa, with nine confirmed cases all linked to a man who traveled from Congo to Uganda before taking a flight to Kenya. He died at a hospital in Nairobi after testing positive for Ebola on Oct. 5.

Jean Kaseya, director-general of Africa CDC, told Devex last week this case illustrated the difficulties in contact tracing. Health authorities were still trying to ascertain who was on his flight, and if they had made onward travel, he said.

The WHO has urged “all countries in the region to sustain a high level of readiness as the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to evolve.”

The U.N. health agency, which first declared the outbreak in Congo on May 15, also advised against any restriction of travel to, or trade with, affected countries.