Africa CDC investigates possible Ebola link between Nigerian and Kenyan patients

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention opened an inquiry on Thursday to determine if the first confirmed Ebola patients in Nigeria and Kenya made contact while at Entebbe International Airport in Uganda. Dr. Wessam Mankoula, who leads emergency preparedness and response at the Africa CDC, stated that investigators are looking for some sort of interaction between the two cases at the airport.

Nigeria announced its first Ebola case on Tuesday. The patient is a Ugandan-born woman who serves as the wife of a diplomat stationed in Abuja. Nigerian health authorities reported that she vacationed in Uganda in September and returned to Nigeria earlier this month. She is currently receiving treatment. Authorities placed 44 people who had close contact with her in quarantine. Investigators are also working to establish how she was initially exposed to the virus.

The geographic location of the Nigerian case marks a shift in the outbreak's spread. Nigeria is the fourth country on the continent to record a case in the current outbreak and the first in West Africa. It is the farthest from the epicenter in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The outbreak began in eastern Congo in May 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 reported about 20 cases initially but was declared free of Ebola in August. Kenya recorded its first case in early October. Eight more cases have since been confirmed in Kenya. The first Kenyan patient, who has died, traveled from Congo to Kenya via Uganda. Both that patient and the Nigerian case were at Entebbe International Airport on the same day.

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. People are generally not considered infectious until symptoms appear. The inquiry aims to clarify the transmission chain between the two new national cases.