Nigeria has confirmed its first Ebola case. The case was detected in the capital, Abuja, in a woman who had travelled from Uganda.
The case in Nigeria comes amid an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with cases also detected in Kenya, raising concerns that the disease could spread across the continent.
Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare said the woman began showing symptoms on October 7 and was admitted to a private hospital in Abuja on October 11. She was subsequently confirmed to have Ebola, the ministry said.
Health Minister Muhammad Pate said the relevant authorities had begun efforts to trace 44 people who had been in contact with the patient.
More than 9,000 people have contracted Ebola in the DRC since May, with more than 4,000 deaths from the disease.
According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, this is the second-largest outbreak of its kind ever recorded.
Efforts to control the disease have been hampered by the lack of an approved vaccine or specific treatment for the “Bundibugyo” strain of the virus.
Uganda had also previously reported Ebola cases, but the country was later declared Ebola-free.
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