Symbolic imageEbola reaches Nigeria as Kenya reports ninth case
Nigeria confirmed its first Ebola case on Tuesday, a woman who arrived from Uganda, and ordered maximum alert. Kenya reported a ninth case the same day.
Nigeria's government announced on Tuesday, 20 October, a case in the capital Abuja. According to Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate, the woman arrived on an international flight from Uganda and spent several days in a private hospital before the diagnosis was confirmed. The health ministry says her symptoms began on 7 October and she was admitted on 11 October. Authorities have identified 44 close contacts and called on all public and private health facilities to go on maximum alert. Nigeria contained an outbreak in 2014, with 19 infections and seven deaths.
Kenya's cluster grows
Kenya's health ministry said a 24-year-old man, already in quarantine, tested positive. He is a close relative of the first patient, who died in a Nairobi hospital on 5 October. Director-General for Health Patrick Amoth says all nine cases belong to one cluster and 134 of 135 contacts are traced. The US told its citizens to reconsider travel to Kenya.
Uganda rejects link
Uganda's health ministry said it has no confirmed Ebola case and that travelling via Uganda does not mean the disease was contracted there. Uganda had declared its own outbreak over in late August. The Congo outbreak behind the spread has passed 9,000 cases, and there is no licensed vaccine for the Bundibugyo strain.