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Nigeria reported its first Ebola case in more than a decade on Tuesday, becoming the fourth African country and the most populous yet to be affected by an outbreak that health officials have described as the fastest-spreading on record.
The Ebola species behind the outbreak kills about half of those infected and has no approved treatment or vaccine. Since the first cases were confirmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo in May, the disease has killed 4,646 people.
Health officials fear misinformation and funding shortfalls could fuel further spread within the region and across borders.
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Cases have also been reported in Uganda and, more recently, Kenya.
“Ebola is now affecting three regions of Africa. The situation demands urgent action and political leadership at the highest level,” Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Director General Jean Kaseya said on X on Wednesday.
The Nigerian case involves a Ugandan woman who arrived in Nigeria’s capital Abuja via Addis Ababa on October 5, Odianosen Ehiakhamen of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control told Arise TV on Tuesday
She began feeling unwell two days later and sought treatment at a private hospital in Abuja on October 11 with malaria-like symptoms, but her condition did not improve, Ehiakhamen said.
Concern of ‘Pan-African event’
After health officials learned she had recently traveled to Uganda, one of the countries affected by the current outbreak, they tested her for Ebola on October 19.
The positive result was confirmed on Tuesday.
“My concern, now that this has spread from East Africa to West Africa, is that we now have a pan-African event, as opposed to a few at-risk countries,” said Ayoade Alakija, a Nigerian physician who co-chairs a G7 committee for investment in global health.
Alakija also noted that it had taken 12 days since the woman fell sick for her to be tested for Ebola, potentially exposing many other people to the infection.
“Abuja is one of Africa’s main cities … with air and road connections daily, multiple, across the world. It’s a very different prospect – and that’s what worries me — the amount of time it took.”
Officials are also tracing passengers who travelled with her from Uganda to Nigeria but do not believe she was symptomatic during the flight.
Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate told public broadcaster NTA that the woman was in isolation and receiving treatment.
Uganda says it has no active Ebola cases
Uganda’s health ministry said the woman had travelled to Congo, where more than 9,500 Ebola cases have been recorded across eight provinces.
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It was not immediately clear where she had been in Congo, and Nigerian authorities have not confirmed that she had visited the country.
“Travel through Uganda does not establish that infection occurred here,” Uganda’s health ministry said, adding that the country has no active Ebola cases.
Uganda reported 20 cases in May and June, mostly imported from Congo, but the World Health Organization declared the country Ebola-free in August.
Earlier this month, Kenya reported its first Ebola case, involving a traveller who arrived from Congo via Uganda. The country has since reported nine cases, all linked to the same patient.
The spread of Ebola to Kenya raised questions about the effectiveness of border screening systems designed to prevent cross-border transmission.
Pate, Nigeria’s health minister, said the country had successfully contained Ebola in 2014 during the West African epidemic, the largest outbreak on record.
He said Nigeria had the systems in place to respond to the new case.