Africa CDC Investigates Ebola Transmission Route at Entebbe Airport
Nigeria has placed 44 contacts of its first confirmed Ebola patient in quarantine while officials determine if she interacted with a deceased Kenyan case in Uganda.
By Alessia Desai ·
Africa CDC officials opened an inquiry on Thursday to determine if the first confirmed Ebola cases in Nigeria and Kenya involved direct contact at Entebbe International Airport in Uganda. The probe focuses on a specific day when both patients were present at the Ugandan facility.
Nigeria confirmed its first Ebola infection in over a decade on Tuesday. The patient is the Ugandan-born wife of a diplomat stationed in Abuja. Nigerian health authorities stated she returned from a September vacation in Uganda to Nigeria earlier this month.
Dr. Wessam Mankoula, who leads emergency preparedness and response at the Africa CDC, confirmed the woman is currently receiving treatment. Health workers placed 44 close contacts of the patient in isolation. Investigators are working to establish the initial exposure point for the Nigerian case.
The geographic location of the Nigerian case marks the fourth country in Africa to report an infection during the current outbreak. As the most populous nation on the continent, Nigeria is the first West African country to record a case. It is also the farthest from the outbreak's origin in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The current epidemic began in eastern Congo in May and has become the fastest-spreading outbreak on record. At least 4,600 people have died in Congo, with roughly 9,700 infections confirmed. Uganda reported about 20 cases early in the outbreak but was declared free of the virus in August.
Kenya recorded its first case in early October, followed by eight additional confirmed infections. The first Kenyan patient has died. That individual traveled from Congo to Kenya via Uganda. Mankoula stated the Africa CDC is examining whether there was some sort of interaction between the two cases at the airport.
Ebola transmits through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person or through contaminated items. The virus causes severe fever and can be fatal. Patients are generally not considered infectious until symptoms appear. The investigation into the airport link is ongoing.
Source: NPR
