GENOMIC ANALYSIS LINKS NIGERIA’S EBOLA CASE TO KENYA’S INDEX CASE

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By ‘Balogun Ibrahim

Genomic analysis has revealed that the Ebola virus detected in Nigeria’s first confirmed case is closely related to the strain identified in Kenya’s initial case earlier this month, the Minister of Health, Muhammad Ali Pate, said on Friday.

Nigeria announced its first Ebola case on Tuesday involving the wife of a staff member at the Swiss Embassy in Abuja, who returned from Uganda on October 3.

However, Switzerland’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday that the woman had not travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is the epicentre of the current outbreak, contrary to earlier reports by the Ugandan government.

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Health authorities across Africa have been investigating the source of the infection. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention had earlier suggested that the Nigerian patient might have come into contact with Kenya’s first Ebola patient at an airport, as both reportedly travelled from Uganda on the same day.

Speaking to reporters, Pate said genomic analysis indicated that the virus detected in Nigeria was closely related to the one found in Kenya’s index case.

“There is no evidence of travel of that index case in Kenya that links it to Nigeria, but the viruses are appearing to be related,” he said.

In a post on X, the minister also described the Nigerian case as “highly similar to that from Kenya”.

Following the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Kenya, Nigeria has become the fourth African country affected by the current outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola.

The outbreak began in northeastern DR Congo in May before spreading to neighbouring Uganda, where 20 confirmed cases, including two deaths, were recorded before the outbreak was officially declared over in August.

According to World Health Organisation figures as of October 20, the epidemic has recorded more than 9,700 confirmed cases and 4,690 deaths.