The Nigerian Ministry of Health confirmed on Tuesday that the country has recorded its first known case of Ebola in the ongoing outbreak. This case involves a woman who recently traveled from Uganda to Nigeria and tested positive.
Details of the Case
Nigeria's Minister of Health, Muhammad Ali Pate, announced that this patient is a woman who "recently arrived on an international flight from Uganda." She showed the first symptoms of the disease on October 7 and was transferred to a private hospital in Abuja on October 11. After undergoing tests, she was diagnosed as having Ebola.
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The Ministry of Health also announced that officials have begun tracing 44 individuals identified as contacts of this patient. The Minister of Health stated, "We are making every possible effort to control this case and are tracking all contacts that this individual may have had."
Prevention and Control of Outbreak
The Nigeria Center for Disease Control announced two weeks ago that it would increase its surveillance following the registration of the first cases in Kenya and is improving the country's preparedness for a potential Ebola outbreak. These efforts focus on early identification, isolating and referring patients, laboratory diagnosis, infection prevention and control, contact tracing, risk communication, and protecting health workers.
Ebola does not spread easily like highly contagious viruses such as influenza or COVID-19, but it is more dangerous for those who contract it. The current outbreak, which includes a lesser-known type called Bundibugyo Ebolavirus, has resulted in over 9,000 confirmed cases and more than 4,300 deaths, with a mortality rate of nearly 50 percent.
Nearly all cases and deaths have been concentrated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), while more countries have become involved in this outbreak. The first patient in Kenya has died, and officials believe that eight other known cases are part of a cluster that started with her. They say there is no sign of spread beyond her contacts.
Uganda, which borders the epicenter of the outbreak in Ituri Province in the DRC, reported 20 cases and two deaths earlier this year. The country was declared Ebola-free by the World Health Organization in late August after 42 days without registering a new Ebola case. The case recorded in Nigeria may call this status into question again, given the patient's travel history.
This year's outbreak is recognized as the second largest recorded and the fastest outbreak. Although testing and diagnostic capacity have significantly improved, this may have contributed to the increase in case numbers. The Ebola outbreak in West Africa from 2014 to 2016 led to approximately 11,300 deaths from around 28,500 cases, while this outbreak was first declared in May of this year, and researchers believe it likely began several months prior with a small number of cases.
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