Mystery over source of Ebola infection in Nigeria fuels concern about spread of virus

Viajantes ficam ao lado de um cartaz de conscientização sobre Ebola no aeroporto internacional Murtala Muhammed, em Lagos, Nigéria. Fotografia: Sodiq Adelakun/Reuters Ver imagem em tela cheia Viajantes ficam ao lado de um cartaz de conscientização sobre Ebola no aeroporto internacional Murtala Muhammed, em Lagos, Nigéria.

Fotografia: Sodiq Adelakun/Reuters Ebola Mistério sobre a origem da infecção por Ebola no Nigéria alimenta preocupação com a disseminação do vírus Suíça afirma que a paciente é esposa de um diplomata suíço e acredita ter contraído o vírus enquanto viajava na Uganda.

Prefer the Guardian on GoogleHealth officials across Africa are racing to determine how Nigeria’s first Ebola patient ⁠in more than a decade ⁠became infected, amid fears ​the outbreak could spread further after reaching a fourth African country.

The Swiss foreign ministry said on Friday the patient in Nigeria, the Ugandan-born wife of a Swiss diplomat based in Abuja, had not travelled to the Democratic Republic of ⁠Congo, where the outbreak was first detected in mid-May before spreading to Uganda, Kenya and now Nigeria.

The woman was believed to have contracted Ebola while travelling with her husband in Uganda, the ministry added.

As novas informações contradizem relatos de Uganda, que anteriormente afirmava que a mulher havia viajado para o leste da República Democrática do Congo, e suscitarão preocupações sobre a capacidade das autoridades de conter a epidemia, que já é a mais geograficamente ampla da história.

The Ugandan government reported Ebola cases in May and June before WHO declared it Ebola-free in August. A Ugandan government spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday that Uganda had no ​Ebola cases and that, if ​it did, it would make that information ​public.

A Organização Mundial da Saúde afirmou que as investigações continuam a determinar a provável origem da infecção do paciente com Ebola na Nigéria.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating whether the patient may have come into contact with an Ebola patient in Kenya, as both travelled from Uganda’s Entebbe airport on 3 October, said Dr Wessam Mankoula, head of emergency preparedness and response at the organisation.

Catherine Smallwood, a WHO Ebola incident manager in DR Congo, told a UN briefing in Geneva via video ‌link on Friday that WHO staff in DR Congo had no information showing the patient in Nigeria had travelled to the country.

Smallwood disse que uma ligação ao caso no Quênia era possível, mas acrescentou que os oficiais teriam que comparar o momento com o início dos sintomas do paciente da Nigéria para saber se a infecção provavelmente ocorreu no aeroporto da Uganda ou em outro lugar.

Marion Koopmans, a Dutch virologist and member of the WHO’s Ebola emergency committee, cast doubt on the theory. “I think that is very speculative unless there is evidence of sharing the same ​space in a manner that could explain that,” she said.

The Nigerian health minister, Muhammad Ali Pate, said Nigeria’s case remains contained and that contact-tracing was continuing. “We are trying to contain it so it doesn’t go out to the communities.

Hopefully, it won’t get to that and we are working hard to ensure that,” Pate said.

Melaku Yirga, vice‑presidente da África na Prosper Global (anteriormente Mercy Corps), disse que a confirmação do Ebola no Quênia e na Nigéria reforça a necessidade de os países trabalharem em estreita colaboração para prevenir a transmissão adicional.

Ebola é uma doença viral altamente contagiosa e frequentemente fatal que afeta humanos e primatas não humanos. Ela se espalha por fluidos corporais ou materiais contaminados e causa danos aos órgãos, comprometimento dos vasos sanguíneos e, às vezes, sangramento interno e externo severo.

The current outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, which has no approved treatment or vaccine. It was first announced on 15 May and has infected more than 9,500 people and killed nearly half of them.

The outbreak is the largest and deadliest in DR Congo’s history and second only ​globally to ​the 2014-16 outbreak in west Africa, which infected ​more than ‌28,600 people ​and ​killed more than 11,000.

Reuters and the Associated Press contributed reporting.