Africa CDC convenes meeting after Ebola case in Nigeria — Deutsche Welle

Africa CDC will hold an extraordinary virtual meeting of national health officials on October 28 following the confirmation of an Ebola case in Nigeria and amid the spread of the outbreak in Africa. Deutsche Welle reports.

Case in Nigeria

According to Nigerian authorities, the virus was detected in a woman who returned from Uganda in early October. Officials are tracing 44 contacts. Nigeria’s Health Minister Muhammad Pate said the authorities are doing everything possible to contain this case.

Uganda rejected Nigeria’s claims. Twenty cases were recorded there during this outbreak, and in July the country declared itself free of Ebola. The World Health Organization also announced the end of the outbreak in Uganda on August 27.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

Scale of the outbreak

Since the virus was confirmed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in May, more than 9,500 people have been infected, nearly half of whom have died. According to the WHO, this is the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in history. The infection has spread to four African countries and is currently active in two of them.

The current outbreak is linked to the rare Bundibugyo virus, for which there are no approved vaccines or treatments. This strain was also detected in the patient in Nigeria. Africa CDC Director General Jean Kaseya said the crisis meeting is intended to strengthen the joint response to the outbreak, which has already affected three regions of Africa.