Nigeria: Investigations into Two New Suspected Ebola Cases

Algiers -- The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control announced on Sunday that health authorities are investigating two new suspected cases of Ebola virus in the country’s northeastern region. In a post on the social media platform X, the centre said the two suspected individuals have been isolated while relevant health agencies work to identify and trace their contacts and conduct the necessary laboratory tests. It clarified that both cases remain under suspicion pending laboratory results that will confirm or rule out infection.

Nigeria recorded last week its first Ebola case in more than a decade, involving a Swiss woman who had traveled to Uganda before returning to the Nigerian capital, Abuja. She and her husband were evacuated to Switzerland late last week. If the two new cases are confirmed, it could indicate local transmission of the virus within Nigeria, raising public health concerns, especially as authorities have not yet disclosed any possible link between these cases and the previously recorded one.

The Ebola outbreak in Africa is currently concentrated in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the death toll has exceeded 5,000 since the outbreak was declared in May. Kenya and Uganda have also reported Ebola cases. To date, no approved treatments or vaccines are available for the rare Bundibugyo strain, which is responsible for the Ebola outbreak in the Congo. (End) M.R. / M.A.K.