WHO warns Ebola outbreak is 'more complex' as Nigeria, Kenya and DRC report cases
The WHO says the outbreak that began in the DRC is now present in East and West Africa, as investigators try to trace how Nigeria's first patient was infected.
At a glance
- WHO says the Ebola outbreak that began in the DRC in mid-May is now more complex, with cases in Nigeria and Kenya.
- Nigeria confirmed its first Bundibugyo strain case on Tuesday in the Ugandan-born wife of a Swiss diplomat in Abuja.
- The DRC outbreak has killed more than 4,000 people among over 9,000 confirmed cases, with a fatality rate near 50 percent.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says the Ebola outbreak that began in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has grown "more complex", with cases now recorded in both East and West Africa.
"We are facing a more complex outbreak landscape," Mohamed Janabi, the WHO's regional director for Africa, told an online media briefing on Thursday.
Nigeria reported its first case of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola on Tuesday, making it the fourth African country, and the most populous yet, to be affected by an outbreak announced in the DRC in mid-May. Kenya, the DRC and Nigeria all have active or recent cases of the strain. Uganda recorded cases earlier in the year but has since been declared Ebola-free.
Infection source still unknown
The Nigerian patient is the Ugandan-born wife of a Swiss diplomat based in Abuja. Uganda's authorities said she had travelled to eastern DRC before transiting through Uganda, but the WHO and Africa's top health agency said on Thursday they had not received confirmed information that she visited the DRC.
A Swiss government statement to the Reuters news agency said the patient is believed to have contracted the disease while travelling in Uganda.
Wessam Mankoula, head of emergency preparedness and response at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), said the first Nigerian case and the first Kenyan case both left Entebbe on October 3, and that a possible encounter between the two was under investigation.
Uganda rejected the suggestion that the woman was infected in the country. Government spokesman Alan Kasujja told the AFP news agency it was "preposterous" to link Uganda to the case simply because she had holidayed there.
Mankoula and Africa CDC Director General Jean Kaseya said there was no validated information that she had been to the DRC. Pavel Ursu, the WHO representative in Nigeria, said the information given to the organisation included no travel outside Uganda.
Patrick Otim, a WHO emergency response manager, said the source of her infection remained unknown as authorities worked to piece together her travel history. Investigators were also examining which Abuja health facilities she visited between the onset of symptoms and her hospitalisation 48 hours later, he added.
Contact tracing under way
Kenya's Ministry of Health confirmed its first case earlier this month and has reported eight more since. Patrick Amoth, the ministry's director-general, said officials had traced all 135 contacts of the first case.
Nigeria is tracing 44 contacts, and Mankoula said more had since been identified but did not give a new figure.
The current outbreak is the deadliest in the DRC's history, according to the country's health authorities. It has killed more than 4,000 people out of more than 9,000 confirmed cases since May. Neighbouring Uganda recorded 20 confirmed cases, including 15 imported from the DRC, and two deaths, before being declared Ebola-free in August.
The Africa CDC has warned of an "extremely serious threat", with the fatality rate in the DRC approaching 50 percent.
Source: Al Jazeera.
Questions and answers
- Which countries have Ebola cases in the current outbreak?
- The Bundibugyo strain has been found in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya and Nigeria. Uganda recorded cases earlier in the year but was declared Ebola-free in August.
- How did Nigeria's first Ebola patient become infected?
- The source is still unknown. Uganda said she had travelled to eastern DRC and transited through Uganda, but the WHO and Africa CDC say there is no confirmed information that she visited the DRC.
- How many contacts are being traced?
- Kenya says it has traced all 135 contacts of its first case, while Nigeria is tracing 44 contacts, with more identified since, according to Africa CDC officials.
