Swiss authorities say Nigeria Ebola patient likely contracted virus during Uganda trip
The Ugandan-born wife of a Swiss diplomat in Abuja is believed to have contracted Ebola during travel in Uganda, Swiss authorities said, while her husband remains isolated without symptoms.
Abuja, Nigeria. Swiss authorities said on Thursday that a woman diagnosed with Ebola in Nigeria likely contracted the virus during a visit to Uganda about two weeks earlier. The patient, who was born in Uganda, is married to a Swiss diplomat stationed in Abuja.
Patient treated in Abuja
In a statement emailed to Reuters, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs said the woman had been receiving treatment for symptoms at a private Abuja clinic for approximately a week.
Her husband, who accompanied her during the trip when she is thought to have become infected, was in isolation and had shown no symptoms, the department said.
Nigeria announced the infection on Tuesday, reporting its first Ebola case for over a decade. It became the fourth country in Africa affected by the outbreak and the largest by population. The outbreak was announced in the Democratic Republic of Congo in mid-May and has subsequently spread faster than any previously recorded outbreak.
Travel history remains unconfirmed
Authorities in Uganda said the patient had visited eastern Congo and then passed through Uganda before falling ill in Nigeria.
However, the World Health Organization and Africa CDC, the continent’s leading health agency, said on Thursday that they had received no verified information establishing that she had visited Congo.
Asked whether Uganda’s government had evidence of that trip, government spokesperson Alan Kasujja questioned what proof could be provided, citing a passport stamp as an example and raising concerns about infringing the patient’s rights.
Uganda says it has no cases
Speaking to Reuters late on Thursday, Kasujja said there were no Ebola cases in Uganda. He described that as a fact and said the government would be the first to disclose any cases, as it had previously done.
Uganda recorded 20 infections during May and June, with most brought in from Congo. In August, the World Health Organization declared Uganda free of Ebola.
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