Nigeria Confirms First Ebola Case as Kenya Reports Ninth in Spreading Outbreak

Nigeria has confirmed its first Ebola case in the current outbreak, a woman who arrived in the capital, Abuja, on an international flight from Uganda, the country's Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare said Tuesday.

The confirmation came the same day Kenya reported its ninth case, raising concern that an outbreak centered in the Democratic Republic of Congo is spreading across the continent, Al Jazeera reported, citing AFP and Reuters.

In a statement dated Oct. 20, the Nigerian government said the case in the Federal Capital Territory was confirmed by laboratory testing that day. The patient was admitted to a private hospital in the territory, where she received care for several days before the diagnosis was confirmed, the ministry said. She is in isolation and receiving medical care.

According to the ministry, the woman began showing symptoms on Oct. 7 and was admitted to the private hospital on Oct. 11, Al Jazeera reported.

Contact tracing has begun, with 44 close contacts identified so far, including health care workers, patients, caregivers and travel contacts, the government said. Surveillance has been intensified, and the hospital is receiving support to strengthen infection prevention and control.

"We are doing everything possible to contain this case by tracing all the contacts the individual may have had," Health Minister Muhammad Pate said, according to Al Jazeera.

The ministry called on all public and private health facilities in Nigeria to be on high alert. Health workers "must maintain a high index of suspicion, promptly identify and isolate suspected cases, observe strict infection prevention and control measures, and immediately report suspected cases to public health authorities," the statement said.

The government also issued guidance to the public. Ebola spreads through direct contact with the blood or body fluids of someone who is sick with the disease or has died from it, or through contact with contaminated materials, and a person with Ebola cannot spread the disease before symptoms begin, the statement said. It urged residents to remain calm, practice hand hygiene, watch for symptoms including fever, severe weakness, headache, vomiting and diarrhea, and report any possible exposure. Anyone reached during contact tracing, including airline passengers, should cooperate with public health teams, it said.

"Nigeria successfully contained Ebola in 2014, and we have the experience and public health systems to respond to this case," the statement said. It was issued under the name of Pate, who is the coordinating minister of health and social welfare.

In Kenya, the ninth confirmed patient is a 24-year-old man who was already in quarantine when he fell ill, the Kenyan Ministry of Health said Tuesday, according to Al Jazeera. "He was isolated at the first sign of illness, tested and started on treatment immediately upon confirmation of his positive test result," the ministry said.

The man is a close family member of Kenya's first Ebola patient, who had traveled from Congo through Uganda before arriving in Kenya and died at a Nairobi hospital on Oct. 5, Al Jazeera reported.

"All nine cases belong to one cluster, and as of today there is no evidence of transmission outside this group," Patrick Amoth, Kenya's director-general for health, said in a statement. "Eight patients are stable and responding well to treatment, while 134 of 135 contacts have been traced and quarantined."

Amoth said most contacts in quarantine had remained well through the 21-day monitoring period and could return home beginning Oct. 25. The ministry said no infections had occurred inside quarantine facilities. Kenya has not imposed restrictions on travel, trade or public gatherings, according to Al Jazeera.

In Congo, more than 9,000 cases and 4,000 deaths have been reported since May, Al Jazeera reported. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has described it as the second-largest Ebola epidemic on record, according to Al Jazeera.

The outbreak involves the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which there is no licensed vaccine or specific treatment, which has made it difficult to contain, Al Jazeera reported. Uganda previously reported cases but was later declared free of the virus.

The Nigerian government said investigations are continuing and that it would provide updates through its presidential task force on Ebola and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, which operates a free call center around the clock for information and for reporting suspected cases. The government said the FCT authorities and other partners were working together to protect health workers, patients and the wider public, and that early detection, prompt reporting and cooperation were critical to preventing further spread.