Officials on opposite sides of the African continent are trying to determine how a woman diagnosed with Ebola in Nigeria’s capital last week contracted the deadly virus without having visited the Democratic Republic of Congo — the epicentre of one of the worst human outbreaks of the virus in history.
The woman, an Ugandan-born Swiss citizen, was transported on a medical evacuation flight from Abuja to Switzerland on Monday, as questions linger about how she may have contracted the virus while visiting Uganda.
Meanwhile, a health-care worker in the D.R.C. is dead after being attacked over the weekend, as the outbreak continues to spread and claim more lives.
D.R.C.’s Health Ministry’s most recent data indicates more than 9,800 cases, including more than 4,700 deaths, have been recorded since the start of the outbreak in May, making it the deadliest Ebola outbreak in the country’s history.
Here’s a look at the latest developments in the four countries that have been affected by the Ebola outbreak.
Death rates for children much higher than for adults, WHO estimates, while others orphaned.
Nurse killed in Democratic Republic of Congo
A nurse was killed and a health worker severely injured after being attacked while responding to an Ebola alert in D.R.C., according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
It was the latest in a series of attacks on health workers and responders that authorities say is hampering efforts to slow the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in the world.
The attack took place Saturday in the town of Bafwasende in the country’s eastern Tshopo province, one of eight provinces affected by the outbreak, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X on Sunday.
Doctors Without Borders physicians treat a patient inside the Kitatumba Ebola treatment centre in Butembo, D.R.C., on Sept. 23. (Gradel Muyisa Mumbere/Reuters)
“Everyone working to protect communities from this deadly disease must be able to work in dignity and safety. Healthcare must always be protected,” he said.
WHO regional director for Africa, Dr. Mohamed Yakub Janabi, also condemned the attack on X.
“Misinformation and fear must never fuel violence,” he said. Local authorities have not yet commented on the attack or the suspects.
Last month, a Congolese politician was beaten to death in North Kivu — a war-torn province that that has the second-highest number of confirmed cases but the highest fatality ratio.
It happened after he publicly defended the government’s response to Ebola. He had been calling on the public to obey response measures, particularly social distancing and handwashing, on a radio show.
Back in May at the start of the outbreak, two tents at health centres were set alight in two separate attacks in just one week by angry residents.
There is widespread distrust of the country’s government because of how it has managed past Ebola outbreaks as well as chronic corruption.
In a positive development, Ghebreyesus shared news from a treatment clinic in Ituri province, which has recorded the highest number of confirmed cases since the outbreak began.
In a post on X, he shared a video from the community of Mongbwalu showing health workers dancing as they discharged their two remaining patients and noted that no new positive cases had been confirmed at the clinic in the past five days.
Ebola patient flown from Nigeria to Switzerland
The Swiss woman being treated for Ebola in Nigeria was medically evacuated to Switzerland with her husband Monday, officials said, as Nigerian authorities continued monitoring 52 people who had been in contact with her.
Nigerian Health Minister Muhammad Pate said the woman, the country’s first case in the current outbreak, left the capital, Abuja, early Monday with his approval.
Her condition had improved significantly, and she was stable, conscious and able to communicate, he said.
“This does not mean she is not still infectious, hence the strict protocols in place,” Pate wrote on X. Her husband, a Swiss diplomat in Nigeria, has shown no symptoms.
He later confirmed the couple arrived safely in Switzerland and the woman is receiving care in Geneva, while her husband is in isolation at a hospital in Zurich.
The WHO’s Janabi, said the evacuation was arranged because the couple are Swiss citizens and that Nigerian medical teams had stabilized the woman after treating her through the acute phase of the illness.
Switzerland will take over her care and monitor her husband, while Nigeria will continue following 52 other contacts, Janabi said.
“With the evacuation of the patient and her husband, Nigeria currently has no Ebola cases,” he said, stressing that vigilance remained critical. Pate said containment measures remained in place and urged Nigerians to remain vigilant.
The woman tested positive after returning to Abuja from Uganda.
Nigerian authorities said Friday they had yet to establish how she contracted the virus. Switzerland’s Foreign Ministry told The Associated Press that she had not visited D.R.C. and was believed to have been infected while travelling to Uganda with her husband.
The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the first patients in Nigeria and Kenya had both travelled through Uganda’s Entebbe International Airport on Oct. 3.
Travellers stand next to a banner displayed by a health screening station at Nigeria’s Murtala Muhammed International Airport, in Lagos, following reports of an Ebola case in the country last week. (Sodiq Adelakun/Reuters)
Uganda implements quarantine rules
Uganda says it is investigating the Nigerian case, but insists the country remains Ebola-free after declaring an end to its latest outbreak in July.
But the government is reinforcing border controls to stop the spread of the deadly Ebola virus and now requires citizens returning from neighboring D.R.C. to spend 21 days in quarantine at their own expense, the Health Ministry said Sunday.
It first established border controls in May, restricting all but essential travellers, including humanitarian workers and truck drivers, subject to screening.
Travellers with a history of travel to Congo cannot transit through Uganda, including on chartered flights.
Under the new measures announced Sunday, nonessential Congolese travellers will be returned through the nearest border crossing at their own expense, while those entering illegally face prosecution, the Ugandan ministry said.
Screening has intensified at Entebbe International Airport and land borders and all arrivals must complete a passenger locator form and undergo health screening, including diplomats and United Nations personnel.
A Kenyan health worker checks the temperatures of travellers crossing from Uganda to Kenya as part of measures to contain the spread of Ebola virus, in Busia, Kenya, on Oct. 15. (Andrew Kasuku/The Associated Press)
Kenya clears Ebola patient contacts
Kenya on Monday released from quarantine the first group of people who came into contact with its index Ebola patient, a milestone in its efforts to contain cases to a single infection cluster.
The 20 people released completed 21 days of monitoring without developing Ebola symptoms and are in good health, the director general in Kenya’s Health Ministry, Patrick Amoth, said in a statement.
Kenya has reported nine Ebola cases so far, two of whom have died. The remaining seven patients are stable and receiving treatment, Amoth said, adding that 98 others still in quarantine would be released in four waves beginning on Nov. 3.
“This is a milestone worth celebrating,” Amoth said. “It is also a reminder that the work is not yet done.”
Kenya’s first case died in a hospital in Nairobi on Oct. 5, after which eight others fell ill while in quarantine. It announced on Friday that a second person had died.
Amoth said those leaving quarantine posed no risk to their families or communities where they live and urged Kenyans to welcome them home. “We cannot afford to drop our vigilance,” he said.
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is officially the deadliest in the country’s history, and health officials worry the crisis will only get worse when children return to school.
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