The director of the Public Health Laboratory Service at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Olajumoke Babatunde, disclosed that the Ebola patient in Nigeria has developed multiple organ failure.
Ms Babatunde disclosed that molecular testing of the patient’s blood samples showed she carried the Bundibugyo variant of the Ebola virus.
“The patient’s condition has deteriorated. We did three levels of tests, but all were molecular. The strain was Bundibugyo,” Ms Babatunde said on Wednesday.
Health minister Ali Pate said Nigeria was working with Uganda to develop effective containment measures.
“All I can tell you is that we are collaborating with our sister African nation of Uganda,” Mr Pate told journalists at the State House on Wednesday after meeting with the chief of staff, Femi Gbajabiamila. “We are doing contact tracing, and we are putting containment measures in place to ensure that it doesn’t go into our population.”
This came nearly 24 hours after Uganda dismissed claims of exporting Ebola to Nigeria, saying the patient only transited through the East African nation.
“We are doing contact tracing, and we are putting containment measures to ensure that it doesn’t go into our population,” Mr Pate said.
The health minister said Nigeria conquered the virus in 2014, noting the recent imported case will not be different.
“The federal government has competent authorities to deal with this. We have done it in 2014, and we have good public health institutions. Nigerians should be reassured,” he said.
He urged Nigerians to remain calm, promising that the government will be transparent in sharing daily updates on the virus.
“We must be vigilant, but not panic. People should respect public health information from trusted sources and not spread misinformation and false rumours,” Mr Pate said.
The health ministry has traced and placed 44 people who had contact with the infected patient under isolation for three weeks. The incubation period for the Ebola virus is between two and 21 days.
The isolated persons largely comprised healthcare workers who had been treating the patient at Nizamiye Hospital in Abuja. The patient’s husband is also under isolation.
We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.