Nigeria’s Minister of Public Health, Mohammed Ali Pathe, announced on Friday, October 23, that genetic analysis of the country’s only confirmed Ebola case shows that the virus is genetically close to the sample identified in the first Ebola case in Kenya, marking the first genetic link between cases reported in the two countries.
According to Reuters, Nigerian authorities have said that there is no evidence so far that the infected person in Kenya traveled to Nigeria or that he is directly linked to the case registered in Nigeria. The confirmed case in Nigeria is related to a traveler who had traveled to Uganda.
Nigeria’s Minister of Public Health has said that people in contact with the infected case are being identified, quarantined, and tested. The test results of a number of them have been negative, and the results of others have not yet been announced.
Meanwhile, Uganda, which borders the Democratic Republic of Congo and has previously faced an Ebola outbreak, declared on Friday that it was Ebola-free but was increasing preventive measures.
The country’s Ministry of Health has also announced the reinstatement of passenger information registration forms for all entries, regardless of country of origin.
Ugandan authorities have said that travelers with a history of travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the current outbreak began, will not be allowed to transit through the country.
