Ebola Patient in Nigeria Is Wife of Swiss Diplomat, Switzerland Says

The woman who tested positive for Ebola in Nigeria is the wife of a Swiss diplomat based in Abuja, with Switzerland’s government saying she is believed to have contracted the virus while travelling in Uganda, Reuters has reported.

The 42-year-old Ugandan-born woman tested positive on October 20 in what Nigerian authorities described as the country’s first confirmed Ebola case in more than a decade.

In a statement sent to Reuters on Thursday, Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs said the woman had spent about a week at a private clinic in Abuja experiencing symptoms before her diagnosis.

“She is believed to have contracted the virus whilst travelling to Uganda around two weeks ago,” the ministry said.

The department added that her husband, who travelled with her, had been placed in isolation but had not developed symptoms.

“Her husband is in isolation; he has not shown any symptoms. He was travelling with his wife when she is believed to have contracted Ebola,” the statement added.

However, the precise source of the woman’s infection remains unclear as health authorities investigate her movements and possible exposure to the virus.

Conflicting Accounts of Patient’s Movements

Ugandan officials have said the woman travelled to eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) before passing through Uganda.

However, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said they had not received verified information confirming that she visited the DRC.

Africa CDC official Wessam Mankoula said Nigerian and Ugandan authorities were exchanging information to establish the woman’s movements and determine the possible source of the infection.

“So far, there is no validated information (that) this case traveled to DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo),” Mankoula told an online press conference on Thursday.

The WHO representative in Nigeria, Pavel Ursu, said information received by the organisation indicated that the woman returned to Abuja on October 3 after travelling to Uganda from September 16.

“The facts which we have received is that the patient returned to Abuja on October 3, being away from September 16 in Uganda,” Ursu said.

He added that the woman remained hospitalised and that her biochemical markers were improving.

WHO emergency response manager Patrick Otim said investigators were working to establish the source of the infection and identify the health facilities the patient visited after developing symptoms but before her hospitalisation.

Health Authorities Trace Possible Contacts

Nigeria’s reported case is linked to an outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, which was first reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in May, according to the report.

Ebola can spread through direct contact with the blood or other bodily fluids of an infected person, including someone who has died from the disease. Symptoms may include fever, vomiting and diarrhoea, while severe cases can be fatal.

Health authorities are working to reconstruct the patient’s movements and identify people who may have been exposed to the virus.

Investigations are also expected to clarify where the woman may have contracted the infection and whether any additional transmission has occurred.

The precise source of the infection remains unconfirmed, while Nigerian and international health officials continue to exchange information as part of their investigation.