African Health Agency Checks Airport Link in New Ebola Cases
Investigators are testing if a fatal Kenyan case and a new Nigerian infection crossed paths in Uganda.
By Malik Salazar ·
The Democratic Republic of Congo outbreak has now reached the far corners of the continent. African health leaders are investigating a potential transmission link between the first confirmed Ebola cases in Kenya and Nigeria.
The inquiry centers on a meeting point in Uganda. Both the initial Kenyan patient and the current Nigerian case were present at Entebbe International Airport on the same day. This temporal overlap prompted the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to examine the timeline closely.
Nigeria announced its first case in over ten years on Tuesday. The patient is the wife of a diplomat based in Abuja. She holds Ugandan citizenship and visited her country of birth in September. She returned to Nigeria early this month. Her husband and other family members are part of a group of 44 close contacts now under quarantine.
Dr. Wessam Mankoula, who directs emergency response at the Africa CDC, confirmed the patient is under treatment. He stated the agency is looking into whether there was "some sort of interaction between the two cases at the airport." Investigators are also working to determine how the woman first contracted the virus.
The geographic spread of the virus marks a new phase for the epidemic. Nigeria is the most populous nation in Africa and the first West African country to report a case during this outbreak. It is located farthest from the epicenter in eastern Congo. The current wave began in May and is the fastest spreading on record. At least 4,600 people have died in Congo, with roughly 9,700 infections reported.
Uganda, which sits between Congo and the two new cases, reported about 20 infections before being declared free of the virus in August. Kenya identified its first case in early October. That patient has died. Eight additional cases have been confirmed in Kenya since then. The first Kenyan patient traveled from Congo to Kenya through Uganda.
Ebola transmits through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person or through contaminated items. The disease causes severe fever and can be fatal. Individuals are generally not considered infectious until symptoms appear.
