Ebola case in Nigeria: Swiss diplomat's wife did not visit DR Congo, officials say
Switzerland says the Ebola patient in Nigeria is a diplomat's wife infected in Uganda, contradicting earlier accounts and complicating the search for the source.
The story in focus
Switzerland's foreign ministry said the Ebola patient in Nigeria, the Ugandan-born wife of a Swiss diplomat in Abuja, did not travel to DR Congo. She is believed to have contracted the virus in Uganda. The differing accounts heighten concern about containing the most geographically widespread Ebola outbreak recorded.
- The 42-year-old patient tested positive on 20 October, Nigeria's first confirmed Ebola case in more than a decade.
- Her husband is in isolation without symptoms, and 25 embassy staff were judged not to need isolation.
- Africa CDC is examining whether she shared the Entebbe airport on 3 October with a Kenyan man who later died of Ebola, but no link is established.
Diverging accounts of the infection
Switzerland's foreign ministry said on Friday that the patient in Nigeria, the Ugandan-born wife of a Swiss diplomat based in Abuja, had not travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the outbreak was first detected in mid-May. The ministry believes she contracted the virus while travelling with her husband in Uganda. That contradicts accounts from Uganda, which previously said she had travelled to eastern DR Congo.
The WHO said investigations continued into the likely source of infection. Its Ebola incident manager for DR Congo said staff there had no information showing the patient had travelled to the country, and a WHO official in Nigeria said the source of exposure remained unknown. Uganda's government has said it has no active Ebola cases.
Other institutions said they had not received verified information confirming a visit to DR Congo.
Airport link examined but unconfirmed
Africa CDC is investigating whether the patient came into contact with a Kenyan man who died of Ebola and passed through Uganda's Entebbe airport on the same day, 3 October. Its head of emergency preparedness and response described this as one possible scenario and stressed that no link had been established.
A Dutch virologist on the WHO's Ebola emergency committee said the theory was speculative without evidence of shared space that could explain transmission, and that presence at a large airport was not a supported epidemiological link. Nigeria's health minister said the case remained contained and contact-tracing was continuing. Nigeria is tracing contacts beyond the 44 initially identified, and genomic sequencing has been prioritised.
Outbreak scale
The current outbreak, caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, has no approved treatment or vaccine. The WHO declared Uganda Ebola-free in August. Kenya has confirmed nine infections linked to its first patient, with no evidence of wider community transmission, and its health director-general said the country was not out of danger.
Where is the Ebola patient in Nigeria believed to have been infected?
Switzerland's foreign ministry believes the woman contracted Ebola while travelling in Uganda with her husband and says she did not visit DR Congo. The WHO says the source of exposure is still unknown and investigations continue.
Sources & further reading
- Ebola patient in Nigeria did not visit DR Congo, escalating concern over spread of virus ↗The Guardian
- Woman with Ebola in Nigeria confirmed as wife of Swiss diplomat ↗BBC News
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