Nigeria’s first Ebola case matches DR Congo strain, health officials say

Nigerian health authorities say test results have confirmed the country's first case of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola.

Key points

• That epidemic killed more than 11, 000 individuals throughout West Africa between late 2013 and 2016.
• There have been more than 9, 000 Ebola cases and more than 4, 000 deaths there since mid-May.
• The case involves a woman who travelled from Uganda to the capital, Abuja, on October 3, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) remarked.
• She was tested for Ebola on October 19 after health authorities learned she had lately travelled to Uganda, one of the countries affected by the current outbreak.
• Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate informed public broadcaster NTA that the woman was in isolation and receiving treatment.

Meanwhile, the case involves a woman who travelled from Uganda to the capital, Abuja, on October 3, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) remarked.

She was tested for Ebola on October 19 after health authorities learned she had lately travelled to Uganda, one of the countries affected by the current outbreak. Authorities confirmed the positive result on Tuesday.

"We did three levels of tests, but all molecular. The strain was Bundibugyo, " Olajumoke Babatunde, director of the public health laboratory service at the NCDC, remarked on Wednesday.

In practice, the World Health Organization (WHO) additionally confirmed the strain, for which there is neither a vaccine nor a specific treatment.

Meanwhile, an unnamed official informed the AFP news agency that the woman is a diplomat whose condition has deteriorated into "multi-organ failure".

Ayoade Alakija, a Nigerian physician who co-chairs a G7 committee for investment in global health, remarked that it had taken 12 days since the woman fell sick for her to be tested for Ebola, potentially exposing numerous other individuals to the infection.

Nigerian authorities have identified 44 contacts, most of them healthcare workers. They include the patient's husband, a Swiss national. This person lives with her in Abuja.

Authorities are additionally tracing passengers who travelled with her from Uganda to Nigeria but do not believe she was symptomatic during the flight.

In 2014, the first Nigerian case, detected in Lagos, raised fears the virus would spread rapidly, but it was brought under control within three months, resulting in 20 infections and eight deaths.

Notably, the WHO notes Nigeria is the fifth country to detect the virus in the outbreak. It this past week widened throughout the continent, with Kenya in the east reporting nine cases since October 6.

Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Director-General Jean Kaseya remarked on X on Wednesday that the outbreak was "no longer one country's fight", and that he would hold a gathering of Africa's health ministers next week to strengthen the cross-border response and review hospital capacity.

For context, the DRC is the epicentre of the outbreak, its deadliest on record.

For now, nigeria's first Ebola case matches DR Congo strain, health officials say remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.