Nigeria confirms its 1st Ebola case as Kenya reports 9th infection: Health officials

Nigeria is confirming its first Ebola case as an outbreak continues to spread in the nearby Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

According to Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the patient is a woman who arrived on an international flight from Uganda. She was admitted to a private hospital in the Federal Capital Territory, where the capital city of Abuja is located.

The woman received care for several days before a diagnosis was confirmed through laboratory testing on Tuesday. She is currently in isolation and receiving medical care, according to the ministry.

The ministry said that 44 close contacts of the patient have been identified and public health teams are working to identify and monitor people who may have been exposed, including healthcare workers, patients, caregivers and travel contacts.

“Surveillance has been intensified, and the hospital is receiving immediate support to strengthen infection prevention and control measures,” the ministry said.

The patient was confirmed to have Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease, a rare variant of Ebola behind the current DRC outbreak. There are no vaccines nor treatments.

In a press release, the World Health Organization (WHO) said this makes Nigeria the fifth country to detect Ebola Bundibugyo virus since the DRC’s outbreak began in May.

The WHO said Nigeria’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention has activated its incident management system to coordinate a response, including identifying cases and follow-up of contacts.

In support, the WHO said it is working “closely with health authorities to strengthen control measures, including case investigation, contact tracing, infection prevention and control, and provision of essential supplies including personal protective equipment for health workers.”

It comes as Kenya’s Ministry of Health reported a new case of Ebola, bringing the total number of confirmed infections to nine.

All the cases appear to be linked to the original patient, a Kenyan man who had been living in the DRC and traveled to Nairobi. That man subsequently died on Oct. 5, according to authorities.

The ministry said that 134 of 135 contacts of the original patient have been traced and quarantined and the risk to the general public remains low.

Meanwhile, the nearby DRC continues to experience its worst Ebola outbreak on record. As of Oct. 18, 9,552 cases of Ebola and 4,550 deaths have been confirmed, according to the Congo Ministry of Health, with 937 patients in isolation or hospitalized.

The case fatality rate currently stands at 48.2% while contact tracing stands at 76.9%, an improvement from the earlier days of the outbreak.