Urgent.News

What's breaking now, across thousands of outlets.

Health & Medicine

Nigeria confirms its first Ebola case is Bundibugyo strain

The first Ebola case detected in Nigeria is the Bundibugyo strain, which is behind a major DR Congo outbreak , and the patient is a diplomat, an emergency meeting heard on Wednesday. The case in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, was detected in a woman who had travelled from Uganda to the capital Abuja on Oct 3, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) said. Since the…

Nigeria confirms its first Ebola case is Bundibugyo strain

Nigeria has confirmed its first Ebola case, which is the Bundibugyo strain, responsible for a major outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to an emergency meeting on Wednesday. The patient is a diplomat who contracted the virus after traveling from Uganda to the capital, Abuja, on October 3, reported the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC).

The NCDC's director of public health laboratory service, Olajumoke Babatunde, confirmed that three molecular tests confirmed the strain to be Bundibugyo. The World Health Organization (WHO) also confirmed the diagnosis, noting that there is currently no vaccine or specific treatment for this particular strain. The diplomat has entered multi-organ failure.

Africa CDC's director general, Jean Kaseya, warned that the current Ebola threat in Africa is extremely serious, as Kenya has also reported its ninth case. Nigeria has identified 44 contacts that are being monitored and is intensifying efforts to find other potentially exposed individuals. The WHO stated that infection prevention and control measures are being escalated at the private hospital where the patient received care.

Written by urgent.news from Dawn's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.

This story

This is one outlet's version. Read the fullest account.

Read the original at dawn.com →

More in Health & Medicine

More from Wednesday 21 October →