Health officials across Africa are racing to determine how Nigeria’s first Ebola patient in more than a decade became infected, as Switzerland faults Uganda claim the virus must have been contracted in Congo
In a statement issued today, the Swiss government said the patient, a Ugandan-born wife of a Swiss diplomat based in Abuja, had not travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the outbreak was first detected in mid-May.
The Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs said the woman was believed to have contracted Ebola while travelling with her husband in Uganda, which the World Health Organization declared Ebola-free in August.
The outbreak has now been reported in Kenya, as well Nigeria, giving it the widest geographic spread of any Ebola outbreak on the continent to date.
The possibility that the Nigerian patient became infected in Uganda, where officials say she spent a two-week holiday before returning to Abuja, has fuelled concerns about undetected transmission in a country where the outbreak had appeared to be under control.
Uganda claimed the woman had been in eastern Congo before transiting through Uganda, but both the WHO and Africa’s top health body say that information has yet to be confirmed.
The WHO said investigations were continuing to establish the source of the infection. The woman tested for Ebola 13 days after she fell ill in Abuja.
Uganda reported 20 Ebola cases in May and June, most of them imported from Congo, but has not detected a case since June.
Ugandan government spokesperson Alan Kasujja told Reuters on Thursday that Uganda had no Ebola cases and would make any such information public. He could not be reached for comment on Friday.
Ebola has infected nearly 10,000 people and killed more than 4,600 in Congo. The disease can cause fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and, in severe cases, internal and external bleeding. Only people with symptoms can transmit the virus.
The rare Ebola species behind the current outbreak has no approved treatment or vaccine.
Meanwhile, the Presidential Task Force on Ebola Preparedness, Virus Disease Preparedness and Emerging Public Health Threats has assured Nigerians on its ability to contain the spread of Ebola. Chairman of the Task Force and Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, told newsmen after the group’s emergency meeting at the State House on Wednesday that the Task Force has been working behind the scenes since it was inaugurated in June this year. He added that this is why it was easy to detect the index case discovered yesterday.“It’s very important to note this. Since the issue of Ebola came up in June, there have been about 44, 000 flights in and out of Nigeria. So, it’s because of what the Ministry of Health, the task force and all the agencies have been doing. All hands have been on deck.“The passenger with the disease showed no symptoms, which came four days after the woman got into Abuja, and it was the identification process and the protocols that were put in place that enabled the quick identification. That also speaks to the country’s capacity and ability to deal with this disease as best as we can,” he said.He assured Nigerians that the Task Force would strengthen whatever needed strengthening, the protocols, and ensure more rigorous enforcement moving forward. “The Task Force is on top of it. NCDC is on top of it; everyone is on deck. We must build community trust and avoid panic, but it’s also important to state clearly that this is a collaborative effort between the government and the people.He appealed to all Nigerians to respond to calls for compliance for the good of all.The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Mohammed Ali Pate, said Nigeria has competent health authorities, including private hospital operators and agencies, Immigration, Aviation, Interior, and subnational actors, who have put surveillance systems in place across the country, ready to respond.“We have been conducting contact tracing diligently and isolating those contacts of the index imported case in this country. We will continue to do that, and we want to reassure Nigerians that the federal government, alongside its technical partners, the World Health Organisation, the Africa Centre for Disease Control, and our own Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, have activated the incident management system across the various pillars.“They are working day and night diligently, and our hospital capabilities are also activated, such that we can aim to contain this case, as has been the case in other countries, but we will not relent. Our population should respect public health directives.”“Most of our states have adequate response plans. We have the resources, and we’re mobilising those capabilities. And we’re also confident that if we continue on this path, we should be able to dent this outbreak.”He further urged citizens to avoid misinformation while combating the virus.“The key also for the population is to avoid spreading misinformation or baseless rumours, which can cause unnecessary panic. The Task Force leadership has met. WHO and AfricaCDC are working closely with the team.“In addition to our exceptional public health physicians who had successfully tamed this virus in 2014, and had contributed to other countries, we are confident that if we continue in this direction, we will emerge out of this crisis in a much stronger place,” Pate assured.
* with reporting from Reuters
