Entebbe Airport: Nigeria Isolates 44 Contacts After Ebola Link Probe

African health officials are currently determining whether the first confirmed Ebola patient in Nigeria came into direct contact with the first patient in Kenya while both were at Entebbe International Airport in Uganda. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or Africa CDC, detailed the ongoing inquiry during a press briefing on Thursday, October 22.

The investigation centers on a Ugandan-born woman who is the wife of a diplomat posted in Abuja. Nigerian health authorities identified her as the country's first Ebola case in over a decade, a diagnosis announced on Tuesday, October 20. She had traveled to Uganda for a vacation in September and returned to Nigeria earlier in October. Dr. Wessam Mankoula, who leads emergency preparedness and response at the Africa CDC, stated that the woman is currently receiving treatment.

Health officials have placed 44 close contacts of the Nigerian patient in quarantine. Investigators are working to establish the specific route of her initial exposure. The geographic location of the Nigerian case has drawn attention, as Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa. It is the fourth nation on the continent to record an Ebola case during the current outbreak and the first in West Africa. The country is also the farthest from the epicenter of the disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The current outbreak began in May in eastern Congo and has become the fastest spreading on record. At least 4,600 people have died in Congo, and roughly 9,700 have been infected. Neighboring Uganda initially reported about 20 cases but was declared free of the virus in August. Kenya recorded its first case in early October, with eight additional cases confirmed since then. The first Kenyan patient, who has died, traveled from Congo to Kenya via Uganda.

Both the deceased Kenyan patient and the Nigerian woman were present at Entebbe International Airport on the same day. This overlap prompted the current investigation. Mankoula said the Africa CDC is looking into whether there was some sort of interaction between the two cases at the airport. Ebola spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person or through contaminated items. The disease causes severe fever and can be fatal, though people are generally not considered infectious until symptoms appear.