Nigeria quarantines 44 after airport probe

Health authorities are determining if the first Ebola patient confirmed in Nigeria met the first patient in Kenya at a Ugandan airport. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention addressed this specific inquiry during a press briefing on Thursday. The investigation focuses on Entebbe International Airport, where both individuals were present on the same day.

Nigeria announced its first Ebola case in over ten years on Tuesday. The patient is the Ugandan-born wife of a diplomat stationed in Abuja. She returned to Nigeria earlier this month after spending a holiday in Uganda during September. Dr. Wessam Mankoula, who leads emergency preparedness and response at the Africa CDC, stated that the woman is currently receiving treatment.

A total of 44 people who had close contact with the patient are under quarantine. Investigators are simultaneously working to identify the source of her initial exposure. The location of the case marks a geographic expansion for the virus. Nigeria is the fourth African country to record an Ebola case in this outbreak. It is the first nation in West Africa to report a case and sits farthest from the epicenter in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The current outbreak began in eastern Congo in May. It has become the fastest spreading on record. At least 4,600 people have died in Congo, and approximately 9,700 have been infected. Neighboring Uganda initially reported about 20 cases but was declared free of the virus in August. Kenya recorded its first case in early October, and eight additional cases have been confirmed there since.

The first Kenyan patient, who has since died, traveled from Congo to Kenya via Uganda. This travel route prompted the current cross-border inquiry. Mankoula said the Africa CDC is examining whether there was some sort of interaction between the two cases at the airport. Ebola spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids or contaminated items. It causes severe fever and can be fatal. People are generally not considered infectious until symptoms appear.