Nigeria confirms Ebola case, but origin remains disputed
The infection is the first in Nigeria since 2014, and officials in Switzerland, Uganda, and the WHO offer conflicting accounts of how the virus reached the patient.
By Carolina Wood ·
The outbreak that began in the Democratic Republic of Congo in mid-May has now reached its fourth African country. Health officials in Nigeria confirmed the nation’s first Ebola case in more than a decade, though the route of infection remains a point of contention among international partners.
The Swiss foreign ministry identified the patient on Friday as the Ugandan-born wife of a diplomat stationed in Abuja. The ministry stated that she had not traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the outbreak originated. Officials in Bern believe she contracted the virus while traveling with her husband in Uganda. This account conflicts with earlier reports from Uganda, which claimed the woman visited the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. A Ugandan government spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday that the country had no active cases and would release information if that changed.
The World Health Organization is continuing its investigation into the likely source of the infection. Catherine Smallwood, a WHO Ebola incident manager in the Democratic Republic of Congo, stated that staff there had no evidence the patient had traveled to that country. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention is examining whether the patient may have encountered an Ebola case in Kenya. Both individuals passed through Uganda’s Entebbe airport on 3 October. Dr. Wessam Mankoula, the organization’s head of emergency preparedness and response, noted that officials must compare the timing of the airport transit with the onset of the Nigerian patient’s symptoms to determine the likely point of infection.
Some experts remain skeptical of the airport connection. Marion Koopmans, a Dutch virologist and member of the WHO’s Ebola emergency committee, described the theory as very speculative without evidence that the two individuals shared the same space. She stated that random presence at a large airport does not constitute a supported epidemiological link under current standards.
Muhammad Ali Pate, Nigeria’s health minister, said the case is currently contained and that contact tracing is ongoing. He stated that officials are working to prevent the virus from spreading to local communities. Melaku Yirga, vice-president for Africa at Prosper Global, emphasized the need for speed and cross-border information sharing to support frontline health workers.
The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, for which no approved treatment or vaccine exists. First announced on 15 May, the epidemic has infected more than 9,500 people and killed nearly half of them. It is the largest outbreak in the history of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the second largest globally, following the 2014 to 2016 epidemic in West Africa that infected more than 28,600 people and killed more than 11,000.
