Nigeria's First Ebola Patient, a Swiss Woman, Evacuated to Switzerland
A Swiss woman being treated for Ebola in Nigeria was medically evacuated to Switzerland on Monday along with her husband, a Swiss diplomat who has shown no symptoms, as Nigerian authorities continue monitoring 52 contacts.
Nigeria evacuated its first confirmed Ebola patient — a Swiss woman — to Switzerland on Monday, along with her husband, a Swiss diplomat posted to Abuja who has shown no symptoms of the disease. Nigerian Health Minister Muhammad Pate said he approved her departure, noting her condition had improved significantly and that she was stable, conscious, and able to communicate, though she remained infectious.
Upon arriving in Switzerland, the woman was admitted to Geneva University Hospital, while her husband was placed in isolation at Zurich University Hospital. Swiss health authorities said both facilities were equipped to handle the patients and that there was no risk to the Swiss public.
The WHO's regional director for Africa, Mohamed Janabi, said the evacuation was arranged because the couple are Swiss citizens and that Nigerian medical teams had stabilized the woman after treating her through the acute phase of her illness. Nigeria will continue monitoring 52 people who were in contact with her. "With the evacuation of the patient and her husband, Nigeria currently has no Ebola cases," Janabi said.
The woman tested positive after returning to Abuja from Uganda. Both she and Kenya's first Ebola patient had traveled through Uganda's Entebbe International Airport on October 3. Kenya has since recorded nine cases, including two deaths, and released 20 people from quarantine on Monday.
The wider outbreak, which began in Congo in May, has recorded more than 9,900 cases and over 4,800 deaths. The WHO has called it the fastest-spreading Ebola outbreak on record, warning it could surpass the 11,000 deaths from the 2014–2016 West Africa epidemic.
