Nigeria's Ebola Case Traced to Swiss Diplomat's Wife as WHO Says No Congo Link
Health authorities disagree on how the patient was exposed as the Bundibugyo outbreak has killed nearly half of more than 9,500 people infected.
By Omar Bennett ·
Nigeria has recorded its first Ebola case in over a decade, and the route of infection remains disputed among international health officials. The case marks the fourth African country affected by the outbreak first detected in mid-May.
The Bundibugyo virus strain has infected more than 9,500 people and killed nearly half of them since it was announced on 15 May. The outbreak is the largest and deadliest in DR Congo's history and the second largest globally, after the 2014-16 west Africa epidemic, which infected more than 28,600 and killed more than 11,000. There is no approved treatment or vaccine for Bundibugyo.
The Swiss foreign ministry said the patient is the Ugandan-born wife of a Swiss diplomat based in Abuja. It said she had not travelled to DR Congo and was believed to have been infected while travelling with her husband in Uganda. Uganda's government had previously said the woman travelled to eastern DR Congo. A Ugandan spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday that Uganda had no Ebola cases and would disclose any if they arose. Uganda reported cases in May and June, and the WHO declared the country Ebola-free in August.
Catherine Smallwood, a WHO Ebola incident manager in DR Congo, told a UN briefing in Geneva that WHO staff in that country had no information indicating the patient had travelled there. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention is examining whether the patient may have contacted an Ebola patient in Kenya. Dr Wessam Mankoula, the organisation's head of emergency preparedness and response, said both individuals passed through Uganda's Entebbe airport on 3 October. Smallwood said a link to the Kenyan case is possible but would depend on comparing timing with symptom onset.
Marion Koopmans, a Dutch virologist on the WHO's Ebola emergency committee, called the airport theory "very speculative unless there is evidence of sharing the same space in a manner that could explain that." She said that random presence at a large airport is "not a supported epidemiological link by any standard of what we currently know."
Nigeria's health minister, Muhammad Ali Pate, said contact tracing is continuing. "We are trying to contain it so it doesn't go out to the communities," he said. Melaku Yirga, vice-president for Africa at Prosper Global, formerly Mercy Corps, said confirmed cases in Kenya and Nigeria show countries must share information across borders without delay and resource frontline health workers.
Source: The Guardian
