Health authorities probe two suspected Ebola cases in northeast Nigeria

The two individuals have been isolated while officials carry out contact tracing and laboratory testing.

A paramedic transports a woman who had been diagnosed with Ebola following her repatriation from Nigeria [File: AFP]

Nigeria has identified two suspected Ebola cases in the northeast, after the country declared its first case in more than a decade on October 20.

Nigerian health authorities are investigating, and the two individuals have been isolated while contact tracing and laboratory testing get under way.

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“Two suspected cases of Ebola disease have been identified in Nigeria’s northeast region,” the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement posted on X on Saturday.

“Both individuals have been isolated, contact identification and listing is ongoing, and laboratory testing is being conducted.

“Being classified as suspected cases does not mean they are confirmed Ebola cases; confirmation is subject to laboratory results,” it added.

Last week, Nigeria became the fifth country to be affected by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola after an imported case was reported.

A Swiss woman who had travelled to Nigeria from Uganda tested positive for the virus. She and her husband, a Swiss diplomat, were evacuated to Switzerland on Monday.

The current outbreak emerged in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in May.

The Bundibugyo strain has killed more than 5,000 people in the DRC since then.

The outbreak is the largest in the DRC’s history, affecting eight of the country’s 26 provinces and with more than 10,300 confirmed cases reported.

There is currently no approved treatment or vaccine for this strain of Ebola, but vaccine trials are under way.

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) on Friday called for stronger measures to protect front-line workers after two young Congolese doctors died from Ebola earlier this week in DRC’s North Kivu and Ituri provinces.

Persistent weaknesses in early detection and contact tracing are among the main obstacles to stopping the current Ebola transmission in the DRC, according to health authorities.

Only about 12 percent of confirmed cases in the DRC have been identified among previously known contacts, with many deaths occurring in communities, authorities said.

Since May, Bundibugyo cases have been reported in the DRC, Uganda, France, Kenya and most recently, Nigeria.

目前，这两名患者已被隔离，相关部门正在进行接触者追踪和实验室检测。

一名医护人员将一名从尼日利亚遣返回国后确诊感染埃博拉病毒的女子送往医院。[图片：法新社]

尼日利亚在10月20日宣布十多年来的首例埃博拉病例后，又在东北部地区发现了两例疑似埃博拉病例。

尼日利亚卫生部门正在进行调查，目前两名患者已被隔离，接触者追踪和实验室检测工作正在进行中。

刚果民主共和国埃博拉病例超过1万例，疫情增长速度最快，共列出3例病例中的1例

列表 2/3：最后一名患者离开刚果民主共和国埃博拉中心，举国欢庆

刚果民主共和国埃博拉死亡人数超过5000人（列表3/3）

尼日利亚疾病控制和预防中心周六在X网站上发表声明称：“尼日利亚东北部地区发现了两例疑似埃博拉病例。”

“两名患者均已被隔离，接触者追踪和登记工作正在进行中，实验室检测也在进行中。”

“被列为疑似病例并不意味着他们就是确诊的埃博拉病例；确诊取决于实验室检测结果，”声明补充道。

上周，尼日利亚报告了一例输入性埃博拉病例，成为第五个受到邦迪布焦埃博拉病毒影响的国家。

一名从乌干达前往尼日利亚的瑞士女子病毒检测呈阳性。她和她的丈夫——一名瑞士外交官——已于周一撤离回瑞士。

目前的疫情于5月在刚果民主共和国（刚果（金））爆发。

自那时以来，邦迪布焦毒株已在刚果民主共和国造成 5000 多人死亡。

此次疫情是刚果民主共和国历史上规模最大的一次，影响了该国 26 个省中的 8 个省，已报告确诊病例超过 10300 例。

目前尚无针对这种埃博拉病毒株的获批治疗方法或疫苗，但疫苗试验正在进行中。

非洲疾病控制和预防中心（非洲疾控中心）周五呼吁采取更有力的措施保护一线工作人员，此前两名年轻的刚果医生本周早些时候在刚果民主共和国北基伍省和伊图里省死于埃博拉病毒。

卫生部门表示，早期发现和接触者追踪方面持续存在的不足是阻止刚果民主共和国当前埃博拉病毒传播的主要障碍之一。

刚果民主共和国当局表示，该国确诊病例中只有约 12% 是从先前已知的接触者中发现的，许多死亡病例发生在社区中。

自五月以来，刚果民主共和国、乌干达、法国、肯尼亚以及最近的尼日利亚都报告了 Bundibugyo 病例。