Nigeria confirmed its first Ebola case in the current outbreak on Tuesday, October 20. The patient is a woman who arrived from Uganda; she is in isolation, and authorities are monitoring 44 people from her circle.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), this is an imported case of the disease caused by the Ebola Bundibugyo virus. The WHO Regional Office for Africa reports that Nigeria is the fifth country to detect this virus since the outbreak was declared in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on May 15.
The Patient's Course of Illness
As the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare reported, the woman developed symptoms on October 7, four days after arriving in Nigeria. She went to a private facility in Abuja on October 11, and laboratory tests confirmed the infection on October 20, as described by the UN news service. The patient remains in isolation and is receiving medical care. Infection prevention procedures are being strengthened at the facility where she was treated.
Health Minister Muhammad Pate said that services have begun tracing 44 contacts of the patient. As AP reports, her nationality has not been disclosed, and it is not known exactly when she arrived. The number of contacts does not mean the number of infected people: so far, one case has been confirmed. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has activated an incident management system.
Where the Infection Occurred
The source of the infection has not been determined. The Nigerian ministry noted that travel through Uganda does not prove that the infection occurred there, and the place of exposure is being investigated. According to AP, the ministry stressed that Uganda has no confirmed active cases. WHO declared the end of the outbreak in Uganda on August 27, after 20 confirmed cases. According to the Fact Check Africa service, Reuters later reported that the woman had been in the DRC and then travelled through Uganda to Nigeria. Uganda says she only passed through it on her way back from a work trip to the DRC; this is second-hand information and requires confirmation.
Background to the Outbreak
WHO considers this the fastest-spreading Ebola outbreak in history. According to AP, it may surpass the deadliest to date, in West Africa in 2014–2016, which killed around 11,000 people. AP also writes that the number of confirmed cases in the DRC has exceeded 9,000. WHO reports that, apart from the DRC, Uganda and Nigeria, infections linked to the DRC have been detected in Kenya (nine cases) and the Netherlands (one).
Nigeria has faced Ebola before. In 2014, 20 cases were recorded there, and the outbreak was declared over after three months. In June, following the outbreak in the DRC, the country set up an Ebola task force. Pate assured that the government will provide reliable information and appealed for calm and good hygiene. Medical facilities are to remain vigilant for possible cases. Symptoms include fever, weakness, headache, vomiting and diarrhoea, among others.
What It Means for Poland
A single imported case does not directly change the situation in Poland. As of publication, I have not found any announcement from Polish sanitary services or the Ministry of Health about a change in recommendations. People returning from West or Central Africa who develop fever within three weeks should contact a doctor or the sanitary-epidemiological station and state their travel destination. Nigeria is a major transport hub, so further WHO and NCDC updates on the number of cases among contacts will be key to assessing the risk.
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