Ebola viruses in Nigeria and Kenya appear closely related, minister says

Nigeria’s health minister, Muhammad Ali Pate, told reporters on Friday, 23 October, that genomic analysis indicated the virus in the country’s only confirmed Ebola patient was closely related to that found in Kenya’s first patient. He said there was no evidence that the Kenyan patient had travelled to Nigeria, and that the finding might or might not change investigators’ understanding of the transmission route. Genetic similarity alone does not show where the Nigerian patient was infected or whether the two patients met.

The comparison comes as the outbreak continues to spread beyond the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The World Health Organization recorded 9,704 confirmed cases and 4,687 deaths there as of 20 October. Kenya has since reported a second death among its nine confirmed cases. Its health ministry said the woman, 65, was a close relative of the first patient, the seven others were receiving treatment, and there was no evidence of transmission beyond their cluster.

Investigators have also considered a possible encounter in Uganda. An Africa CDC official told the Associated Press that the first patients identified in Kenya and Nigeria both passed through Entebbe airport on 3 October, but said any interaction between them was still being investigated. Being at the same airport on the same date does not establish contact or exposure.

Accounts of the Nigerian patient’s earlier travel differ. AP reported that Ugandan authorities said she had visited Congo, while Switzerland’s foreign ministry said she had not. The WHO said on 23 October that her full travel history and the likely source of her exposure remained under investigation.