The Ebola patient recently identified in Nigeria is reportedly the wife of a Swiss diplomat living in Abuja, Reuters has reported.
The 42-year-old Ugandan-born woman tested positive for the virus on October 20, making her Nigeria’s first confirmed Ebola case in over 10 years.
According to Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, the woman had received treatment at a private clinic in Abuja for about a week before doctors confirmed the infection. She is suspected to have contracted the virus during a visit to Uganda approximately two weeks before her diagnosis.
Her husband, who accompanied her on the trip, has been isolated as a precaution but has not displayed any symptoms, the Swiss government said.
The circumstances surrounding the infection remain under investigation, particularly the patient’s movements before she became ill.
Ugandan authorities indicated that the woman had travelled to the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo before entering Uganda. However, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said they had not received confirmed evidence that she visited the DRC.
Africa CDC official Wessam Mankoula said Nigerian and Ugandan health authorities were working together to establish her travel history and determine where she may have been exposed to the virus.
WHO representative in Nigeria, Pavel Ursu, said the information available to the organisation showed that the woman returned to Abuja on October 3 after staying in Uganda from September 16.
Ursu also disclosed that she remained in hospital, although medical indicators suggested her condition was improving.
WHO emergency response manager Patrick Otim said investigators were examining the healthcare facilities the woman visited after her symptoms began but before she was admitted to hospital. The exercise is aimed at determining possible exposure and identifying contacts who may require monitoring.
The infection involves the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which was linked to an outbreak first reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in May.
Ebola is transmitted through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person or someone who has died from the disease. Common symptoms include fever, vomiting and diarrhoea, while severe cases can result in death.
Health officials are continuing contact-tracing efforts and investigations into the patient’s movements to establish the source of the infection and limit the risk of further transmission.
