Abuja, Oct 26. (dpa/GNA) – The first patient infected with Ebola in Nigeria was evacuated to Switzerland aboard a specially equipped aircraft on Monday, Nigerian Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate said.
The woman, a Swiss national, “was clinically much improved, stable, conscious, communicating, and her clinical laboratory test results closing towards baseline,” Pate posted on X.
“This does not mean she is not still infectious, hence the strict protocols in place,” he added. Pate said the woman, who was reportedly born in Uganda, had been evacuated along with her spouse, a Swiss diplomat, who had remained asymptomatic. He did not disclose which hospital in Switzerland would treat her.
Africa’s most populous country confirmed its first case of Ebola on October 20. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), said she had arrived by plane from Uganda.
Uganda borders the Democratic Republic of Congo, where nearly 10,000 Ebola cases and almost 5,000 deaths have been reported since mid-May.
According to the Africa CDC, investigations are still under way to establish exactly where the woman contracted the virus.
Uganda recorded a total of 20 confirmed Ebola cases during the current outbreak, all traced to a patient from Congo. Two patients died.
Uganda declared its Ebola outbreak over at the end of August, after no new cases had been recorded for 42 days.
There are also active Ebola cases in Kenya which borders Uganda.
The first patient had travelled from Congo to Kenya via Uganda.
Nine Ebola cases, including two deaths, have so far been recorded in the capital, Nairobi.
GNA