ABUJA — Nigeria has confirmed one imported case of Bundibugyo Ebola in the federal capital, with health authorities monitoring 44 identified contacts and investigating where the patient was exposed.

Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare said laboratory testing confirmed the infection on October 20. The patient, a woman who recently arrived on an international flight from Uganda, is in isolation and receiving medical care.

The World Health Organization’s Africa office said her symptoms began October 7, four days after she arrived in Nigeria. She sought care at a private Abuja health facility on October 11, and the Bundibugyo virus was confirmed nine days later.

Exposure location remains under investigation

The travel route does not establish where the infection occurred. Uganda’s health ministry said the woman had travelled to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo for business and transited Uganda in early October without symptoms. It said Uganda had no confirmed active Ebola cases at the time of its statement.

WHO said investigations are continuing to reconstruct the patient’s travel and exposure history. Nigeria’s description of the infection as an imported case does not mean officials have established the country of exposure, and authorities have not reported community transmission in Nigeria.

The 44 contacts identified so far include health-care workers, patients, caregivers and travel contacts, according to Nigeria’s health ministry. Public-health teams are tracing and monitoring people who may have been exposed, while infection-control support is being reinforced at the private hospital where the patient received care.

Fifth country affected in current outbreak

WHO said Nigeria is the fifth country to detect the Bundibugyo virus since the current outbreak was declared in the Democratic Republic of Congo on May 15. Kenya has reported nine cases linked to an imported infection in recent weeks. Uganda declared the end of its earlier outbreak after completing a 42-day monitoring period.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has activated its incident-management system. WHO and other partners are supporting case investigation, contact tracing, infection prevention and the provision of protective equipment for health workers.

Nigeria’s federal government has asked public and private health facilities to maintain surveillance, isolate suspected cases promptly and notify public-health authorities. WHO is also urging countries in the region to strengthen laboratory readiness, clinical teams and monitoring at ports of entry.

WHO advises against restrictions on travel or trade with affected countries. Ebola spreads through direct contact with the blood or other body fluids of an infected person or contaminated materials; it is not spread through ordinary airborne transmission.

Sources: Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare release dated October 20; WHO Africa’s October 20 news release; Reuters’ October 20 report; The Associated Press report.

Editorial illustration of an Ebola-response checkpoint in Abuja; not a documentary photograph of the patient or a treatment site.