WHO supports Nigeria after first Ebola case confirmed

The World Health Organization (WHO) is assisting Nigeria following confirmation of the first case of Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease in the country.The patient is a woman who recently travelled from Uganda and began showing symptoms on 7 October, four days after her arrival. The woman sought care at a private health facility in the capital, Abuja, on 11 October; laboratory testing confirmed the diagnosis on 20 October. She remains in isolation and is receiving medical care as investigations continue to determine the likely source of her infection and reconstruct her full travel and exposure history. Contact tracing underwayWHOsaid the Nigerian health authorities have so far identified 44 contacts who are being monitored amid intensified efforts to find other people who may have been exposed. Infection prevention and control measures are being ramped up in the private health facility where the woman sought care. Cases in five countriesNigeria is the fifth country to detect Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease since an outbreak was declared in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in mid-May – the deadliest in the country’s history. More than 9,500 cases and more than 4,200 deaths were...