The Ebola epidemic registers its first case in the most populous country in Africa

The Ebola epidemic registers its first case in the most populous country in Africa It is the fourth African nation affected by the outbreak that started in Congo, which is spreading to more provinces; Kenya registered its ninth case; the virus still has no vaccine or treatment - 5 minutes reading LAGOS.– Nigeria announced its first Ebola case this Tuesday, a woman who traveled from Uganda to the capital, Abuya, in an extension of the epidemic that began months ago in Congo and which thus managed to spread within the most populous country in Africa. “The patient, a woman who recently arrived in Nigeria on an international flight from Uganda, was admitted to a private hospital” stated the Nigerian Minister of Health, Muhamad Ali Pate, in a statement. The government urged “all public and private health centers in the country to remain on high alert.” Since May, the Democratic Republic of Congo has faced the seventeenth Ebola outbreak in its history, which in a few months became the most deadly recorded in this immense country. So far, the outbreak has exceeded 9000 cases and caused 4381 deaths. The Nigerian Minister of Health specified that “to date, 44 close contacts have been identified” and that public health teams are working to identify and monitor people who may have been exposed, including health personnel, patients, caregivers, and people who interacted with the patient during the journey. Since early October, the outbreak also spread to Kenya, where the Ministry of Health confirmed the ninth case this Tuesday. Among these nine, one death was recorded, a Kenyan citizen who lived in Congo and reportedly infected the other eight people. The Ministry of Health indicated that the last case was a close relative of the first patient and had already been placed in quarantine. “The nine cases belong to the same focus of contagion and, to date, there are no indications of transmission outside this group,” stated the Director General of Health, Patrick Amoth, in a statement. Kenya is on high alert due to the significant Ebola outbreak with its epicenter in Congo. The first case in Kenya was identified at the beginning of this month in a man who traveled from Congo to Nairobi, the capital of the country, and died in a hospital on October 5. At the end of Monday, the United States Department of State advised its citizens to reconsider traveling to Kenya and raised its travel alert level for the country due to health risks. Progress in Congo The outbreak continues to spread in its country of origin, as it advanced over the weekend to an eighth province. The Ministry of Health registered two cases, including a death, in the Nord-Ubangi province, in the north of the country and bordering the Central African Republic. Health authorities indicated that both patients were men about 20 years old who lived in the Wapinda area, which borders the Bas-Uele province, where Ebola cases had already been reported. The Ituri province, in eastern Congo, remains the epicenter of the disease and concentrates almost three-quarters of the confirmed cases, according to the government's most recent data, which show that 66 areas have been affected since the outbreak began. “We see that the Ebola foci in general are decreasing, but unfortunately, geographically, it is expanding,” said Mohamed Yakub Janabi, regional director for Africa of the World Health Organization, to The Associated Press. Janabi, in an interview in Beni, in eastern Congo, pointed out that one of the biggest challenges has been convincing the sick to seek medical assistance, and added that some deaths occur in the community, outside of health centers. Nord-Ubangi is among Sud-Ubangi and Bas-Uele, the last two provinces to which the disease had spread along the border with the Central African Republic, where armed violence has forced thousands of people to flee and seek refuge in Congolese border communities. Access in the region can be difficult due to the poor state of the roads and limited communication networks. The Ituri province, in eastern Congo, remains the epicenter of the disease and concentrates almost three-quarters of the cases, according to the government's most recent data, which show that 66 health areas have been affected since the outbreak began. Authorities in the North Kivu province prohibited the entry of all people from the Ituri province throughout this week in an effort to stop the spread of the virus. The transportation of more than two people on a motorcycle or four people in a car, as well as public gatherings and sports events, nightclubs, and political demonstrations were also prohibited. The spread of the outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo virus, which currently has no vaccine, grew due to mass population displacements, violence from rebel groups, distrust of authorities, and poor working conditions for frontline personnel. AFP and AP Agencies