World · 13 d ago
Nigeria's first Ebola case matches the strain behind Congo's outbreak
Countries to detect the virus in this outbreak
5 countries
Three tests confirmed the patient in Abuja has the Bundibugyo strain, Nigerian health officials said, and the World Health Organization confirmed it. It is the outbreak's first spread to West Africa, and Nigeria is the fifth country to detect it.
What we know
- She flew from Uganda to Abuja on Oct 3
- She was tested on Oct 19, confirmed a day later
Not yet
- Where she caught the virus
The woman arrived in Abuja from Uganda on Oct 3 and first went to two private hospitals thinking she had malaria. Nigeria says she holidayed in Uganda; Uganda says she only passed through on her way back from eastern Congo.
The 44 people she was in contact with, most of them health workers, are in isolation, and none is known to have developed symptoms, the health minister said.
What's next
The head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Jean Kaseya, said the outbreak is "no longer one country's fight" and will gather Africa's health ministers next week.
