A woman with Ebola in Nigeria has been confirmed as the wife of a Swiss diplomat.

The Swiss foreign ministry has verified that the woman who tested positive for Ebola in Nigeria is the wife of a Swiss diplomat.

The woman, a 42-year-old Ugandan-born national living in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, tested positive with the virus on October 20, becoming the country’s first confirmed Ebola patient in more than ten years.

They both visited Uganda earlier this month. Her husband is currently in isolation but has no symptoms, according to the Swiss foreign ministry.

The ministry informed the BBC that all 25 staff members at its embassy in Nigeria were in good health and did not require isolation.

According to the government, the woman visited a private clinic in Abuja for almost a week with symptoms before being diagnosed.

It is believed she caught the virus while traveling in Uganda, but health officials have yet to determine the cause of her infection.

Uganda has a border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where over 4,600 people have died as a result of the country’s deadliest Ebola outbreak. Two people died in Uganda shortly after the outbreak began in May, but it has been declared Ebola-free since August.

The ministry stated that the decision not to isolate the embassy’s eight Swiss and 17 local staff was made in conjunction with the Nigerian Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO).

It also stated that the embassy remained open and operational, with health and safety precautions in place.

The woman is being treated in isolation and is showing signs of progress, according to the WHO.

Is Ebola under control in Kenya, after nine confirmed cases?
What is Ebola, and why is containing the current outbreak so difficult?
She returned to Nigeria on October 3rd, after spending approximately two and a half weeks in Uganda.

The Swiss authorities confirmed to Reuters on Friday that the patient did not travel to DR Congo, contrary to Ugandan reports.

She experienced symptoms four days after landing in Abuja and sought care at two private health clinics before testing positive for Ebola on October 20.

Health officials are now looking into whether she met a Kenyan man who died from Ebola and passed through Uganda’s main airport on the same day.

Investigators are looking into whether they were exposed through shared equipment or other contact, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) stated on Thursday.

Dr. Wessam Mankoula, the agency’s chief of disaster preparedness and response, said this was “one of the possible scenarios,” but added that no link had been established.

The Kenyan guy traveled from the Democratic Republic of the Congo through Uganda before arriving in Nairobi on October 3. He died soon after, marking Kenya’s first documented Ebola death.

Kenya has verified eight further cases of Ebola.

The WHO stated that it was too early to tell where the woman in Nigeria became infected.

“The source of exposure is still unknown. Dr Patrick Otim, a WHO emergency response officer, stated that the patient’s travel history is currently being pieced together.

He stated that detectives struggled to gain a detailed description of her movements because interview opportunities were limited while she was in the hospital.

Nigeria’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) said it was doing genetic sequencing to see whether her infection is linked to other instances. However, it has been verified that she has the Bundibugyo species of Ebola, which has caused the outbreak in DR Congo. The inquiry is currently reconstructing the whole travel and exposure history. The WHO’s representative in Nigeria, Dr Pavel Ursu, stated that genomic sequencing is given top priority.

Ugandan health officials had stated that the woman had traveled to eastern DR Congo on business.

However, the WHO, Africa CDC, and Nigeria’s health ministry stated that they had not received verified information verifying her travel to the country.

Uganda has maintained that there are no verified live Ebola cases, and the woman’s transit through the nation does not necessarily imply that she caught the virus there.

Meanwhile, Nigerian officials are looking for more people who may have been exposed to the woman, in addition to the 44 contacts documented thus far.

Dr. Patrick Amoth, Kenya’s Health Director-General, stated that all nine confirmed cases were related to the single patient, and there was no evidence of widespread community transmission.

He asked the public to remain vigilant and not panic, but cautioned that “we are not out of the woods”.

He stated that the remaining eight patients were still in isolation and responding well to treatment.

The results have raised additional concerns about the migration of sick persons across international borders, particularly between DR Congo and neighboring Uganda, where thousands cross daily for trade, labor, and family visits.

Dr. Otim noted that the long and porous border between the two countries made it difficult to screen everyone coming or leaving because many individuals used illegal crossings.

Dr Mohamed Janabi, WHO’s regional director for Africa, called for “regional vigilance” and asked governments to improve monitoring, investigate cases, and protect frontline health workers.

Ebola is a dangerous viral disease that spreads by direct contact with an infected person’s blood or bodily fluids, as well as contaminated objects. It does not travel via the air like the flu.

The virus can induce fever, extreme weakness, vomiting, and diarrhea, which can be fatal. People are not considered infected until they exhibit symptoms.

Health officials believe that swiftly tracking contacts, isolating suspected cases, and giving early treatment are critical to preventing further transmission.