Ebola is back in Nigeria: first case in more than 10 years

Nigeria has confirmed its first Ebola case in more than a decade. It is the fourth African country to be hit by the current outbreak and the most populous one so far.

What happened

According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the patient is a Ugandan woman who flew into Abuja through Addis Ababa in early October. She felt unwell a couple of days later. On 11 October she went to a private hospital with symptoms that looked like malaria, but she did not get better.

Doctors only tested her for Ebola on 19 October, after learning she had recently travelled to Uganda. The result came back positive. That is about 12 days after she first fell sick. Nigerian physician Ayoade Alakija, who co-chairs a G7 committee on global health investment, says the delay may have exposed many people. She also worries about Abuja’s busy air and road links to the rest of the world.

She is now in isolation and getting treatment, according to Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate.

Who is being watched

Officials have found 44 contacts, mostly health workers. They include her husband, a Swiss national who lives with her in Abuja. Authorities are also tracing the passengers who flew with her from Uganda, though they do not believe she had symptoms on the flight.

Where did she catch it?

That is still unclear. Uganda’s health ministry says she had travelled to the DRC. Nigerian authorities have not confirmed that. Uganda also points out that passing through its territory does not prove she was infected there, and says it has no active Ebola cases. The WHO declared Uganda Ebola-free in August, after about 20 cases in May and June.

The bigger picture

This strain, Bundibugyo, kills about half the people it infects. There is no approved vaccine or treatment for it. Since May, the outbreak has killed 4,646 people, and the DRC has recorded more than 9,500 cases across eight provinces. Uganda and Kenya have also had cases. Kenya has reported nine, all linked to one traveller, and that has raised questions about how well border screening works.

Officials also worry that misinformation and a lack of funding could help the virus spread further. Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa CDC, said Ebola now affects three regions of Africa and called for urgent action at the highest level of leadership.

What Nigeria says

Pate says Nigeria beat Ebola in 2014, during the West African epidemic, the largest on record, and that the country has the systems to handle this case. The WHO is backing the response with contact tracing, case investigation and protective gear for health workers. It also advises against banning travel or trade with affected countries.

What you should do

If you feel sick after travelling or after being near someone who may have Ebola, go to a recognised health facility quickly and tell the staff where you have been. The long wait before this patient was tested is exactly what officials want to avoid.