9,500 Infected: Ebola Reaches 4th Nation

Health officials are tracking the first Ebola case confirmed in Nigeria in more than 10 years, an infection that brings the current outbreak to four countries and has infected more than 9,500 people since mid-May. Nearly half of those infected have died.

The Swiss foreign ministry identified the patient on Friday as the Ugandan-born spouse of a Swiss diplomat stationed in Abuja. Swiss officials state she traveled with her husband through Uganda but has not visited the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the outbreak originated. That account conflicts with earlier statements from Uganda, which reported the woman had entered eastern DRC. A Ugandan government spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday that Uganda currently has no active cases.

Health authorities are investigating two potential sources for the infection. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention is examining whether the patient crossed paths with a confirmed case from Kenya at Entebbe airport on October 3. Dr Wessam Mankoula, the organization's head of emergency preparedness and response, confirmed both individuals passed through the airport on that date. Catherine Smallwood, a WHO Ebola incident manager in DRC, told a UN briefing in Geneva that her staff has no record of the Nigerian patient entering Congo. Marion Koopmans, a Dutch virologist and member of the WHO's Ebola emergency committee, called the airport theory "very speculative unless there is evidence of sharing the same space in a manner that could explain that."

Nigeria's health minister, Muhammad Ali Pate, stated that contact-tracing operations are underway. "We are trying to contain it so it doesn't go out to the communities," Pate said. The outbreak involves the Bundibugyo virus strain, for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment. The virus was first detected in DRC on May 15 before moving into Uganda, Kenya, and Nigeria. The current epidemic ranks as the largest and deadliest in DRC history and the second largest globally, trailing the 2014-16 West Africa outbreak that infected more than 28,600 people and killed over 11,000.