Nigeria Ebola case matches DR Congo strain

LAGOS, Nigeria (AFP)—The Ebola case detected in Nigeria is the Bundibugyo strain behind a major DR Congo outbreak, officials said Wednesday, marking the spread of the deadly disease to points across Africa. The case detected in a woman diplomat in Nigeria -- the first there since the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo -- raised memories of a widespread outbreak in 2014 that struck several countries in the region. Nigeria is the fourth African country affected by the current outbreak, which this week came to span the continent, with Kenya in the east reporting nine cases since October 6. The DRC's Ebola epidemic has become the deadliest in the country's history, killing 4,381 people out of more than 9,000 confirmed cases, since mid-May, according to the health authorities. The patient in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, travelled from Uganda to the capital, Abuja, on October 3, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) said. "We did three levels of tests, but all molecular. The strain was Bundibugyo," said Olajumoke Babatunde, director of the public health laboratory service at the NCDC. The World Health Organization (WHO) also confirmed that it was the Bundibugyo strain, for which there is still neither a vaccine nor a specific treatment. "This person is actually a diplomat," another official said, adding the patient has deteriorated into "multi-organ failure". The official did not disclose the nationality of the diplomat. In August, Uganda was declared officially Ebola-free by the WHO after recording 20 cases -- almost all people who had travelled from the DRC. Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Director General Jean Kaseya warned on Tuesday of "an extremely serious threat", with fatality rates fast edging towards 50 percent in the DRC. The Africa CDC has called a high-level meeting of health ministers for next Wednesday to assess the outbreak, coordinate cross-border efforts, support affected countries and strengthen continental preparedness. - 'Geographically widespread' - "My appeal to the international community is urgent: ACT NOW," said Africa CDC's Kaseya. "This Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak has already become the most geographically widespread Ebola outbreak in history, affecting multiple countries across three regions of Africa." Nigeria has identified 44 contacts that are being monitored, while intensifying efforts to find other people who may have been exposed. The WHO said in a statement that infection prevention and control were being "ramped up" at the private hospital where the patient sought care. - 2014 Ebola outbreak - Nigeria's experience in successfully containing an Ebola outbreak in 2014 raised confidence that the country can respond effectively to new public health threats. That epidemic killed more than 11,000 people across west Africa between late 2013 and 2016. In 2014, the first Nigerian case, detected in Lagos, the country's huge commercial hub, raised fears the highly contagious virus would spread rapidly. However, a swift response by Nigerian authorities, supported by technical assistance from international organisations, helped bring the epidemic under control within 21 days, resulting in only 19 infections and seven deaths. "It was so shocking when we got the news yesterday," Anthony Ojogho, a 42-year-old civil servant, told AFP on the streets of Abuja on Wednesday morning. But he was confident in the authorities' ability to contain the spread of the virus, citing Nigeria's previous experience. "Nigerian governments have always been equal to the task. We contained Ebola, we contained coronavirus and the few cases we have now," he said. "If the right steps are being taken, I'm very sure that we're going to contain to a large extent the spread of Ebola virus in Nigeria."