Ebola Reaches Nigeria as Outbreak Becomes Most Geographically Extensive in History

Nigeria has confirmed a case of Ebola in its capital, Abuja, marking the first time in more than a decade that the virus has been detected in Africa’s most populous country and extending an outbreak that health officials describe as the fastest-spreading ever recorded.

The patient is a Ugandan woman who travelled to Nigeria via Addis Ababa on October 5. She began feeling unwell two days later and sought treatment at a private hospital in Abuja on October 11 with symptoms resembling malaria. When her condition failed to improve, and after officials learned of her recent travel, she was tested for Ebola on October 19. The positive result was confirmed on Tuesday, October 20.

Contact tracing under way

Health Minister Muhammad Pate said authorities had identified 44 people as contacts of the patient, including healthcare workers and fellow travellers, and that tracing and monitoring were under way. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control said it had already stepped up surveillance and preparedness in recent weeks, focusing on early detection, isolation, laboratory diagnosis and protection of health workers.

Nigeria becomes the fourth country affected by the current outbreak, which began in the Democratic Republic of Congo in May. The Bundibugyo strain behind it kills roughly half of those it infects and has no approved vaccine or treatment. Since May, the disease has killed 4,646 people, most of them in Congo, where more than 9,500 cases have been confirmed.

A pan-African emergency

Cases have also been recorded in Uganda, and Kenya confirmed its first infection earlier this month, with nine cases since. Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said Ebola is now affecting three regions of Africa and demanded urgent action and political leadership at the highest level. The agency has called a meeting of African health ministers for October 28.

Dr Ayoade Alakija, a Nigerian physician who co-chairs a G7 committee on global health investment, warned that the spread from East Africa to West Africa risks turning the outbreak into a pan-African event, and officials fear misinformation and funding shortfalls could fuel further transmission.

Source: Reuters