Ebola Patient in Nigeria Shows Signs of Recovery as Contact Tracing Continues
he Federal Government says the Ebola patient in Nigeria is showing signs of recovery, days after confirming the case in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“The Federal Government has provided an update on the confirmed Ebola case in Nigeria, reporting that the patient is showing signs of recovery. There is currently no evidence of community spread,” the Federal Ministry of Health said in a post on its X account on Friday.
“Contact tracing, quarantine and monitoring continue, alongside strengthened national coordination, health facility preparedness and public health measures.”
The ministry urged Nigerians to “follow recommended precautions, rely on information from recognised health authorities and avoid sharing unverified reports”.
The update comes days after the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) announced that the patient, a Ugandan-born woman, had developed multiple organ failure after contracting Ebola disease.
The agency said 44 contacts had been identified.
Authorities confirmed that the patient had contracted the Bundibugyo species of Ebola, which is driving the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). There are currently no specific vaccines or treatments for this species.
Providing details about the patient, Switzerland’s foreign ministry said on Friday that she was “the wife of a Swiss member of staff” at the country’s embassy in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
“The Swiss woman, who is symptomatic, has been hospitalised for about a week at a private clinic in Abuja,” it said in a statement.
“The infection may have occurred during a trip to Uganda approximately two weeks ago,” the Swiss authorities added.
“Her husband is in isolation; he has shown no symptoms. He accompanied his wife on the trip, during which she is believed to have contracted the Ebola virus,” the statement said.
“Neither individual travelled” to the DRC, it added.
According to the ministry, the embassy’s 25 other staff members — eight Swiss nationals and 17 local employees — “are also doing well”.
Following consultations with Nigeria’s health ministry and the World Health Organization (WHO), the staff members do not need to go into isolation, the statement said.
The Swiss authorities are considering the “potential repatriation of the patient” to Switzerland, it added.
