Nigeria isolates 44 contacts as officials trace Ebola link to Entebbe Airport

Nigerian health authorities placed 44 individuals in quarantine on Thursday after confirming the nation's first Ebola case in over ten years.

The patient is the Ugandan-born wife of a diplomat stationed in Abuja. She visited Uganda in September and returned to Nigeria in early October. Dr. Wessam Mankoula, who leads emergency preparedness and response at the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stated that the woman is currently receiving treatment.

Investigators are focused on a potential connection between this case and the first Ebola patient confirmed in Kenya. Both individuals were present at Entebbe International Airport in Uganda on the same day. Mankoula said the Africa CDC is examining whether there was some sort of interaction between the two cases during that overlap.

The Kenyan patient, who has since died, traveled from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Kenya via Uganda. Kenya has since confirmed eight additional cases. Uganda reported approximately 20 cases early in the outbreak but was declared free of Ebola in August.

This Nigerian case marks the fourth country in Africa to report an infection during the current outbreak. It is the first confirmed case in West Africa. Nigeria is the most populous nation on the continent and is located farthest from the epicenter in eastern Congo.

The current outbreak began in May in eastern Congo. It has become the fastest spreading on record, with at least 4,600 deaths and roughly 9,700 infections reported in Congo. Ebola transmits through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person or through contaminated items. Symptoms generally appear before a person becomes infectious, and the disease causes severe fever and can be fatal.

Health officials will continue to monitor the 44 quarantined contacts in Nigeria. They are also working to establish the initial point of exposure for the diplomat's wife.