Just a few days after the first Ebola virus case was confirmed in Abuja, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) said it has identified two additional suspected cases of the disease and 53 primary contacts linked to the confirmed case in the Federal Capital Territory.
The Director-General of the NCDC, Jide Idris, disclosed this at a press briefing in Abuja on Sunday.
The first confirmed case involved a woman who travelled from Uganda to Abuja on October 3, via Addis Ababa, according to the NCDC.
The patient, identified as a diplomat, developed malaria-like symptoms on October 7 and presented at a private hospital in the FCT on October 11, where she was treated for several days before Ebola was suspected.
She was tested on October 19 and confirmed positive on Tuesday, October 20. Laboratory analysis by the NCDC’s public health laboratory and the World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed the infection as the Bundibugyo strain — the same strain driving the major outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The NCDC said three levels of molecular tests were conducted to confirm the strain, which currently has no approved vaccine or specific treatment.
Olajumoke Babatunde, Director of Public Health Laboratory Services at the NCDC, said during an emergency meeting on Wednesday that the patient’s condition had deteriorated into multi-organ failure and she remains in isolation.
At the time of confirmation, 44 close contacts were identified, including healthcare workers, patients, caregivers, travel contacts and the patient’s husband. Authorities have since intensified surveillance, contact tracing and infection prevention and control measures at the hospital.
The DRC outbreak, declared in mid-May, has killed over 4,600 people from more than 9,000 confirmed cases and has spread to neighbouring countries including Uganda and Kenya, prompting Africa CDC to warn of “an extremely serious threat.”
