The patient is a Swiss woman, wife of a Swiss diplomat based in Abuja. She landed in Abuja from Uganda on October 3 after transiting through Entebbe Airport. She fell ill on October 5 but was only tested for Ebola on October 18 - 13 days later. She tested positive on October 20 and is now isolated.
Officials said the delay in testing is dangerous because she had time to interact with many people. NCDC has traced 44 contacts so far including family members, health workers, and fellow passengers. All contacts are being monitored for 21 days.
The Ebola strain is Bundibugyo, which has no approved vaccine and has a high death rate. This outbreak started in DR Congo in May, spread to Uganda, Kenya (9 cases), and now Nigeria.
Health experts are worried because she may have met Kenya's first Ebola patient at Entebbe Airport, where both were on the same day.
NCDC said it has activated emergency operations, increased screening at airports, and asked Nigerians not to panic but to practice hand washing and report fever, vomiting, bleeding symptoms immediately to NCDC toll-free line 6232.
The Swiss Embassy in Abuja said it is cooperating with Nigerian authorities.
This is serious because Nigeria had a bad Ebola experience in 2014 when Patrick Sawyer brought it from Liberia and killed 7 people including Dr. Stella Adadevoh.
Are you in Abuja? Are people wearing masks now?
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