Nigeria's government has confirmed a case of Ebola in its capital, Abuja. Health authorities said laboratory tests on Tuesday confirmed the viral infection in a female patient. Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate told the public broadcaster that the woman had travelled from Uganda, a claim that has since raised eyebrows across the region.
The patient was admitted to a private hospital in Abuja, where she had been receiving treatment for several days before the test results came back. Pate said she is now in isolation and getting proper medical care.
Health workers have already traced 44 people who came into contact with her, and the tracing exercise is still ongoing. Pate also said Nigeria has handled Ebola before, noting that the country managed to contain an outbreak in 2014 and has the systems needed to deal with this case.
Uganda's government, however, has pushed back on the claim that the patient came from there. Government spokesperson Alan Kasujja told reporters that there is no Ebola in Uganda. This is a sensitive point, because Uganda had 20 cases in May and June, most of them brought in from neighbouring Congo. The World Health Organization later declared Uganda free of the virus in August.
The bigger picture is worrying. The current outbreak started in the Democratic Republic of Congo in mid-May and has grown into the second-largest Ebola outbreak the world has ever recorded. It is caused by the Bundibugyo strain, which is rare.
Africa's top public health agency, the Africa CDC, has started mobilising support for Nigeria, and its head, Jean Kaseya, has described this outbreak as one of the most spread-out in history, with several countries across three regions of the continent affected.
Closer to home, Kenya has recorded nine Ebola cases this month. All of them are linked to one person who had travelled from Congo. Kenyans are being urged to stay alert, wash their hands often, and report anyone showing symptoms like high fever, vomiting, or unexplained bleeding to the nearest health facility right away.
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