NewzLAGOS, Nigeria (AFP)—The Ebola case detected in Nigeria is the Bundibugyo strain behind a major DR Congo outbreak, officials said Wednesday, marking the spread of the deadly disease to points across Africa. The case detected in a woman diplomat in Nigeria -- the first there since the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo -- raised memories of a widespread outbreak in 2014 that struck several countries in the region. Nigeria is the fourth African country affected by the current outbreak, which this week came to span the continent, with Kenya in the east reporting nine cases since October 6.
The DRC's Ebola epidemic has become the deadliest in the country's history, killing 4,381 people out of more than 9,000 confirmed cases, since mid-May, according to the health authorities. The patient in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, travelled from Uganda to the capital, Abuja, on October 3, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) said. "We did three levels of tests, but all molecular.
The strain was Bundibugyo," said Olajumoke Babatunde, director of the public health laboratory service at the NCDC. The World Health Organization (WHO) also confirmed that it was the Bundibugyo strain, for which there is still neither a vaccine nor a specific treatment. "This person is actually a diplomat," another official said, adding the patient has deteriorated into "multi-organ failure".
The official did not disclose the nationality of the diplomat. In August, Uganda was declared officially Ebola-free by the WHO after recording 20 cases -- almost all people who had travelled from the DRC. Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Director General Jean Kaseya warned on Tuesday of "an extremely serious threat", with fatality rates fast edging towards 50 percent in the DRC.
The Africa CDC has called a high-level meeting of health ministers for next Wednesday to assess the outbreak, coordinate cross-border efforts, support affected countries and strengthen continental preparedness. - 'Geographically widespread' - "My appeal to the international community is urgent: ACT NOW," said Africa CDC's Kaseya. "This Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak has already become the most geographically widespread Ebola outbreak in history, affecting multiple countries across three regions of Africa." Nigeria has identified 44 contacts that are being monitored, whi…
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