Nigeria Ebola Case: Swiss Ministry Disputes Uganda Travel Records

The Swiss foreign ministry identified the Ugandan-born wife of a diplomat stationed in Abuja as Nigeria's first Ebola patient in more than a decade. On Friday, the ministry stated that the woman was believed to have contracted the virus while traveling in Uganda with her husband. The ministry emphasized that she had not traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the outbreak began in mid-May.

This account contradicts earlier statements from Ugandan officials. Those officials previously reported that the woman had traveled to eastern DR Congo. A Ugandan government spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday that the country had no current Ebola cases and would make that information public if it changed. The discrepancy has intensified questions about the ability of authorities to contain an outbreak that is now the most geographically widespread on record.

The timeline of the outbreak began when the virus was first announced on 15 May. Cases were reported in DR Congo, followed by Uganda in May and June. The World Health Organization declared Uganda Ebola-free in August. The disease has since moved to Kenya and now Nigeria, marking the fourth African country affected.

Health agencies are currently investigating the specific source of the Nigerian infection. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention is examining a potential link to a Kenyan patient. Dr Wessam Mankoula, the organization's head of emergency preparedness and response, noted that both patients traveled through Uganda's Entebbe airport on 3 October. Catherine Smallwood, a WHO Ebola incident manager, stated that a connection to the Kenyan case is possible but requires a comparison of symptom onset with the travel timing to determine if infection occurred at the airport.

Experts have expressed caution regarding the airport connection theory. Marion Koopmans, a Dutch virologist on the WHO's Ebola emergency committee, described the theory as very speculative without evidence of shared space that could explain transmission. She added that random presence at a large airport does not constitute a supported epidemiological link based on current scientific standards.

Nigeria's health minister, Muhammad Ali Pate, said the case remains contained. He confirmed that contact-tracing is ongoing and stated, "We are trying to contain it so it doesn't go out to the communities." Melaku Yirga, vice-president for Africa at Prosper Global, emphasized that the confirmed cases in Kenya and Nigeria demonstrate the need for close cross-border cooperation and rapid information sharing.

The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, for which there is no approved treatment or vaccine. The current epidemic has infected more than 9,500 people and killed nearly half of them. It is the largest outbreak in DR Congo's history and the second largest globally, behind the 2014-16 west Africa epidemic.