Nigeria announces its first Ebola case in 12 years
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Nigeria announces its first Ebola case in 12 years
Nigeria announces its first Ebola case in 12 years
Stephanie Soucheray, MA32 minutes ago.
Ebola
Viral Hemorrhagic Fever
Nigeria has its first Ebola case in 12 years, according to the country’s Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.
The patient, a female foreign national, developed symptoms on October 7, four days after arriving in Nigeria via Uganda. She was initially treated for malaria at a private healthcare facility in Abuja on October 11. After she failed to recover, physicians tested for Ebola, with the Bundibugyo strain confirmed yesterday.
Now 44 contacts, including healthcare workers and the woman’s Swiss husband, are under surveillance. The woman is receiving supportive care in isolation.
Uganda has maintained there is no ongoing Ebola transmission in the country after 20 cases were reported earlier this year. The World Health Organization (WHO) said investigations are ongoing to establish the patient’s full travel history.
“Ebola is now affecting three regions of Africa. The situation demands urgent action and political leadership at the highest level,” Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) Director-General Jean Kaseya, MD, MPH, said on X. “I have invited African Ministers of Health to an extraordinary virtual meeting on 28 October to strengthen our collective response.”
Kenya says 9th patient is known case contact
In other news, Kenya has now confirmed a ninth Ebola case, after another case contact tested positive for the virus. The country said there is still no evidence that transmission is occurring in the community, and all positive cases have had ties to the country’s index case-patient, who was diagnosed earlier this month. The Associated Press said the cases in Kenya include the index patient, four family members, and four health workers.All case contacts must complete a 21-day quarantine, Kenyan officials said, with the first wave of contacts to end their quarantine on October 25.
The WHO said the Kenyan cases and the new case in Nigeria means all countries in Africa should “sustain a high level of readiness as the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to evolve.” Countries, should not, however, restrict travel or trade with affected countries.
“They should also heighten monitoring at points of entry, with response plans in place. Sustained readiness is essential to detect cases early, prevent onward transmission and protect health workers and communities,” the WHO said.
The ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is the world’s second-largest, with 9,668 confirmed Ebola cases and 4,649 deaths.