WHO Confirms No Ebola Cases in Nigeria After Evacuation

The World Health Organisation (WHO) announced that Nigeria currently has no Ebola cases after the medical evacuation of a patient and her husband, both Swiss citizens, to Switzerland. WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Mohamed Janabi, stated that the evacuation occurred earlier in the morning, with the patient being clinically stable after successful management by Nigerian medical teams.

Nigeria will continue monitoring 52 contacts, while Switzerland will manage the patient and her husband, who is contact number 53. Prof. Muhammad Pate, Nigeria’s Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, confirmed the evacuation, noting that the patient was stable and her clinical laboratory test results were improving.

He emphasized that strict protocols remained in place as the patient could still be infectious. Nigeria confirmed its first imported case of Bundibugyo Ebola Virus Disease on October 20, following the patient's symptoms that developed on October 7 after arriving in Nigeria.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention activated its incident management system and began contact tracing.