Nigeria confirms Ebola case in Abuja as 44 contacts are traced

The Federal Government has confirmed a case of Ebola in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, announced the confirmation on Tuesday after laboratory tests.

The patient is a woman who arrived in Nigeria on an international flight from Uganda. According to The Sun, she had travelled from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and passed through Uganda before reaching Nigeria. She was treated for several days at a private hospital in the FCT before the infection was confirmed. She is now in isolation and receiving medical care.

Health authorities have identified 44 contacts so far, including healthcare workers, patients, caregivers and travel contacts. Public health teams are still working to find others who may have been exposed.

What this means for ordinary Nigerians

Ebola spreads mainly through direct contact with the blood or other body fluids of someone who is sick with the disease or has died from it. It can also pass through objects and surfaces contaminated with those fluids. People cannot spread Ebola before they develop symptoms.

The government has asked Nigerians to stay calm, wash their hands regularly and avoid contact with the blood or body fluids of anyone suspected of having Ebola. It also urged health facilities, both public and private, to stay on high alert, isolate suspected cases quickly and report them to public health authorities.

Pate appealed to anyone contacted by tracing teams, including passengers who may have travelled with the patient, to cooperate. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has a toll-free line, 6232, for information and reports of suspected cases.

The Sun reported that this case involves the Bundibugyo strain of the virus. There is no approved vaccine or specific treatment for routine use against that strain, the outlet said, and the Ervebo vaccine, which targets the Zaire strain, should not be assumed to protect against it.

What happens next

Contacts will be monitored for 21 days, the longest known incubation period for Ebola. Symptoms can appear between two and 21 days after exposure and include fever, fatigue, muscle pain, headache and sore throat, sometimes followed by vomiting and diarrhoea.

Anyone who develops symptoms after a possible exposure should seek medical help urgently and tell health workers about the contact and any recent travel. The World Health Organisation advises against trying to diagnose or treat suspected Ebola at home.

Families have also been urged to avoid touching or washing the bodies of people who died from Ebola, and to let trained burial teams handle such cases.