Nigeria’s 1st Ebola Patient Is Diplomat’s Wife Who Travelled To Uganda

Nigeria’s first Ebola affected person is the spouse of a diplomat who travelled to Uganda, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has mentioned.

The 42-year-old lady, who lives in Abuja, reportedly spent two and half weeks in Kampala, Uganda, earlier than returning to Nigeria on October 3.

She developed signs on October 6 and initially suspected malaria, prompting visits to personal hospitals earlier than she was admitted to a well being facility on October 11.

The Minister of Health, Muhammad Pate, mentioned the affected person was steady and displaying indicators of enchancment.

Following affirmation of the case, well being authorities recognized 44 contacts who might have been uncovered to the affected person. None had developed signs on the time of the report.

The lady reportedly had a two-hour stopover in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, throughout her journey, elevating the necessity for well being authorities to coordinate contact tracing throughout the international locations concerned.

However, accounts of her journey historical past have differed. Ugandan authorities reportedly indicated that she had travelled to japanese Democratic Republic of the Congo for enterprise and handed by Uganda, whereas sustaining that there have been no confirmed lively Ebola circumstances in Uganda.

Nigeria is working with Uganda, Ethiopia and the Africa CDC to ascertain the affected person’s actions and strengthen surveillance and response measures.

The Director-General of the Africa CDC, Jean Kaseya, referred to as for info sharing and coordination among the many international locations, cautioning in opposition to journey bans that would undermine public well being cooperation.

Health authorities are persevering with to watch the recognized contacts and assess the chance of additional transmission.