Nigeria’s delayed Ebola diagnosis raises fears of wider African spread

What happened

Nigeria’s first Ebola patient in more than a decade was not tested until 13 days after becoming ill, a delay that health officials say could make containment substantially harder. The case was confirmed on Tuesday in Abuja, turning Nigeria into the fourth African country linked to an outbreak that began thousands of kilometres away.

The patient, the Ugandan-born wife of a Swiss diplomat, reached Nigeria’s capital on October 3 after a two-week holiday in Uganda. Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Director-General Jean Kaseya told Reuters that she fell ill three days later and initially sought treatment at several facilities for suspected malaria. Testing for Ebola took place on October 19.

Nigeria had identified 44 contacts by the time of the Reuters report, but Kaseya said the number was likely to rise. Ebola spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of symptomatic patients, making every additional healthcare, family and travel interaction important to investigators.

The outbreak involves the Bundibugyo species, for which there is no vaccine or treatment. Reuters reported more than 9,500 infections and over 4,600 deaths in Congo alone. Uganda recorded 20 cases in May and June, mostly imported from Congo, and was declared Ebola-free in August. Officials disagree over whether the Nigerian patient had travelled into eastern Congo or was infected in Uganda.

Nigerian authorities point to experience during the 2014–2016 West African outbreak. Public-health experts caution that the earlier Nigerian case was isolated immediately after arriving by air, making the present delay a markedly different test.

Image: CDC / Dr. Frederick Murphy. Digitally colorized electron micrograph of Ebola virus, created in 1968; CDC Public Health Image Library image 23186, a free scientific file image rather than a sample from the current Nigeria outbreak. Image usage terms.

Sources

• Reuters