Nigeria Evacuates Ebola Patient To Switzerland As Condition Improves

Nigeria’s first Ebola patient in more than a decade has been evacuated to Switzerland after her health improved, Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate has confirmed.

The woman, who was born in Uganda and is married to a Swiss diplomat stationed in Abuja, departed Nigeria on Monday morning on a medical evacuation flight.

Pate said she was stable, conscious and able to communicate before leaving the country. Her laboratory test results were also approaching normal levels, according to the minister’s update on X.

Her husband, who has shown no symptoms of the disease, travelled with her on the same flight.

The case has raised concerns about the potential spread of Ebola beyond areas already affected by an outbreak that originated in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The outbreak has been reported in four countries across East, Central and West Africa, marking the widest geographical spread of an Ebola outbreak on the continent to date, according to the report.

Investigators are also examining the possibility that the woman contracted the virus in Uganda, where she reportedly spent two weeks on holiday before returning to Abuja. The possibility has prompted questions about whether transmission may have gone undetected in areas where the outbreak was believed to be under control.