Nigeria confirms Ebola case

Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate confirmed a female patient who travelled from Uganda to Abuja has tested positive for Ebola. She is in isolation receiving medical care.

Patient's timeline and symptoms

The woman arrived in Nigeria four days before developing symptoms on Wednesday, October seventh. Health sources say she is not Nigerian and is the wife of a diplomat.

Contact tracing underway

Nigerian health authorities have identified forty four close contacts of the patient and begun contact tracing to prevent further spread of the virus.

Outbreak context in East Africa

The outbreak began in Democratic Republic of Congo in May and has claimed at least four thousand six hundred lives with more than nine thousand five hundred cases recorded.

Unclear travel history complicates tracing

Uganda's Director General of Health Services Charles Olaro said the woman travelled to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo for business before passing through Uganda in early October. Her exact exposure location remains unclear.

“The location of exposure remains under investigation.”

Nigeria's assessment of exposure

Health Minister Pate told Nigerian Television Authority on Tuesday evening that the patient had no symptoms on arrival in Nigeria. He said authorities presume the virus was likely picked up in Uganda.

“We presume that it was likely picked in Uganda.”

Nigeria's preparedness and wider spread

Nigeria successfully stopped a previous Ebola outbreak in two thousand fourteen. Kenya has reported at least nine infections and the US advised its citizens to reconsider travel there because of health risks.