Ebola in Nigeria: patient was born in Uganda
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Vanguard
The diplomat diagnosed with Ebola in Nigeria was born in Uganda, said Jean Kaseya, Director-General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. The authorities are seeking her full travel history to establish where she contracted the infection, Channels Television reports.
The Director-General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Jean Kaseya, has asked the patient diagnosed with Ebola in Nigeria to provide a full account of her movements. The woman, who was born in Uganda, travelled there before arriving in Abuja with her husband on 3 October, but where she contracted the virus remains to be determined, he told Channels Television.
The authorities are seeking to establish, among other things, whether the patient travelled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, had contact with anyone who came from that country, or left Kampala during her stay in Uganda. Nigeria confirmed its first case of Bundibugyo strain Ebola virus disease on 20 October.
The patient, a diplomat, is being treated at a private facility in the Federal Capital Territory. Olajumoke Babatunde, director of public health laboratory services at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, said on 21 October that her condition had worsened to multiple organ failure. Jean Kaseya believes a detailed account of her movements will help establish whether transmission occurred in Uganda or elsewhere.
The request came on the same day that reports were published about the patient’s two-week stay in Uganda and uncertainty over the origin of the infection. Africa CDC has also convened a summit following confirmation of Nigeria’s first case, according to articles previously published by our outlet: the patient’s stay in Uganda and the unknown origin of the infection.
Summary produced with the help of artificial intelligence tools, under AFREEQUE’s editorial responsibility.
