Nigeria’s Ebola patient is a Swiss woman married to a staff member at Switzerland’s embassy in Abuja, the Swiss government said on Friday.
The couple recently travelled together to Uganda, but neither had visited the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the epicentre of the current outbreak, Switzerland’s foreign ministry said.
Nigeria announced its first recorded Ebola case on Tuesday, identifying the patient as a woman who arrived in Abuja on a flight from Uganda. Authorities have since identified 44 contacts linked to the case.
On Wednesday, Nigerian health authorities confirmed that the patient had contracted the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which is driving the current outbreak in the DRC. There are currently no specific vaccines or approved treatments for the strain.
In a statement on Friday, Switzerland’s foreign ministry identified the patient as “the wife of a Swiss member of staff” at its embassy in Abuja.
“The Swiss woman, who is symptomatic, has been hospitalised for about a week at a private clinic in Abuja,” the ministry said.
It added that the infection may have occurred during a trip to Uganda approximately two weeks ago.
“Her husband is in isolation; he has shown no symptoms. He accompanied his wife on the trip, during which she is believed to have contracted the Ebola virus,” the statement said.
“Neither individual travelled” to the DRC, it added.
The ministry said the embassy’s 25 other staff members, comprising eight Swiss nationals and 17 local employees, were also in good health.
Following consultations with Nigeria’s health ministry and the World Health Organization (WHO), the staff members were not required to enter isolation, according to the statement.
Switzerland is also considering the possible repatriation of the patient for treatment, the ministry added.
Nigeria is the fourth African country to be affected by the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak, following the DRC, Uganda and Kenya.
The outbreak began in northeastern DRC in May before spreading to neighbouring Uganda, where 20 confirmed cases, including two deaths, were recorded. The outbreak in Uganda was officially declared over in August.
According to WHO figures as of October 20, the epidemic had surpassed 9,700 confirmed cases, including 4,690 deaths.
AFP
