The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has expanded its contact tracing to 53 primary contacts linked to Nigeria’s confirmed Bundibugyo Ebola case in Abuja, clarifying that a second suspected case in Rivers State has tested negative, leaving the country with one confirmed case as of Sunday.
The Director-General of the NCDC, Dr. Jide Idris, disclosed this at a press briefing in Abuja on Sunday, as health authorities intensified surveillance and infection prevention measures.
Idris explained that the 53 contacts comprise 44 persons associated with the private hospital where the 42-year-old female diplomat was first managed, and nine additional contacts identified outside the facility, including three household members and three health workers who attended to her during an earlier Emergency Room visit.
The agency is also tracing secondary contacts — persons who had contact with the primary contacts — by questioning each identified contact about their interactions.
The confirmed patient travelled from Uganda to Abuja on October 3 through Addis Ababa, developed malaria-like symptoms on October 7, and presented at a private hospital on October 11. Samples collected on October 19 tested positive on October 20 for the Bundibugyo strain, the same strain driving the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which currently has no approved vaccine.
Director of Public Health Laboratory Services, Olajumoke Babatunde, said the patient had deteriorated to multi-organ failure and remains in isolation.
The NCDC clarified earlier reports of two new suspected cases, stating the count refers to the index case and a Rivers State suspected case that has now tested negative. Monitoring will continue for 21 days after last exposure.
The agency also announced a N100,000 weekly stipend for quarantined contacts for accommodation and feeding.
