Nigeria's Ebola Patient Evacuated to Switzerland, 52 Contacts Still Monitored as Congo Nurse Is Killed

Since Nigeria confirmed its Ebola case on Oct. 20, the patient has been moved out of the country. A 42-year-old Ugandan-born Swiss citizen was evacuated from Abuja to Switzerland early Monday, Oct. 26, along with her husband.

Nigerian Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate said the departure had his approval. He described her as clinically much improved, stable, conscious and communicating, with lab results moving toward baseline.

He did not say she was clear of the virus. "This does not mean she is not still infectious, hence the strict protocols in place," Pate wrote on X.

The evacuation

The medical flight left Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport at about 6 a.m., according to Nigerian reports. Switzerland's Federal Office of Public Health said the couple arrived Monday. The woman is being treated at Geneva University Hospital. Her husband, a Swiss diplomat who has shown no symptoms, is in isolation at Zurich University Hospital.

The Swiss agency said both hospitals are equipped for the cases and that there is no risk to the Swiss public.

Mohamed Janabi, the World Health Organization's regional director for Africa, gave three reasons for the move. Both are Swiss citizens, she is clinically stable, and Nigerian doctors had managed her through the acute phase of the illness. Janabi said Switzerland will take over her care and the monitoring of her husband, whom he listed as contact number 53.

"With the evacuation of the patient and her husband, Nigeria currently has no Ebola cases," Janabi said.

ARISE News, which first reported the flight, cited a source saying the federal government would announce the evacuation only after the aircraft had left Nigerian airspace. Pate's confirmation came after that report.

Contacts and the unanswered question

Nigeria is still monitoring 52 other contacts, up from the 44 identified when the case was confirmed on Oct. 20. Pate said containment measures remain in place and told Nigerians to rely on credible sources.

The Federal Ministry of Health said the woman was treated at a private hospital for several days before the diagnosis was confirmed. Nigerian authorities said Friday they had still not established how she caught the virus.

Switzerland's foreign ministry has said she did not visit Congo and is believed to have been infected on a trip to Uganda with her husband. Uganda has insisted it has identified no new Ebola cases. Its health minister declared the country Ebola-free in July, after Uganda had reported 20 confirmed cases and several deaths this year.

The Africa CDC added a detail on Monday that sharpens the question. It said the first patients in both Nigeria and Kenya traveled through Uganda's Entebbe International Airport on Oct. 3. Kenya's first patient, a man who had been living in Congo, died.

No source has said Entebbe was where either person was infected. Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya has said his agency is maintaining heightened vigilance in Uganda while stepping up its response in Congo and Kenya.

Kenya and Congo

Kenya has recorded nine cases, including two deaths. On Monday the Kenyan Ministry of Health released 20 contacts of its first case from quarantine. It said each was assessed against release criteria, including 21 days without symptoms since last exposure. The ministry said 98 others are expected to be released starting next Tuesday.

In Congo, the epicenter, the Health Ministry's latest data show more than 9,800 cases and more than 4,700 deaths since the outbreak began in May. That makes it the deadliest Ebola outbreak in the country's history.

The WHO said a nurse was killed and another health worker severely injured over the weekend after being attacked while responding to an Ebola alert. Authorities say a string of attacks on responders is hampering efforts to slow the spread.

Kaseya said on Oct. 20 that the outbreak "has already become the most geographically extensive in history," affecting several countries across three regions of Africa. The strain is Bundibugyo, for which no approved vaccine or treatment exists. Congo has been giving vaccines cleared for the Zaire strain.

What comes next

Nigeria's 52 contacts are the immediate test. Kenya's own contacts are being cleared on the 21-day standard, and Nigeria's tracing will be judged on the same clock. If a contact falls ill, Nigeria's "no cases" status ends.

Pate promised a further update once the couple landed. Whether Swiss and Ugandan officials can settle where the woman was infected is still open.