Evacuated Ebola patient, husband arrive in Switzerland

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, has confirmed that Nigeria’s Ebola patient and her husband arrived safely in Switzerland on Monday following their medical evacuation from Abuja.

In an update posted on his official X account, Mr Pate said the patient was receiving treatment at Geneva University Hospitals, while her husband had been placed in isolation at University Hospital Zurich.

“The Swiss authorities have confirmed that the patient and her spouse arrived safely in Switzerland today,” he said.

The Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), in a statement issued on Monday, also confirmed their arrival, saying both individuals, who are Swiss citizens, were transported from Nigeria aboard a medical evacuation flight.

The agency said the woman was receiving treatment for Bundibugyo virus disease, a form of Ebola, while her husband, identified as a close contact, remained in isolation.

It explained that both hospitals had the necessary facilities and trained medical personnel to manage such cases safely.

The Swiss authorities said the arrangements posed no risk to public health in the country.

Mr Pate said Switzerland’s Federal Councillor, Elisabeth Baume-Schneider, expressed appreciation for the care provided by Nigerian health professionals and the cooperation between both countries and the World Health Organisation (WHO), which made the evacuation possible.

He said the appreciation was conveyed during a telephone conversation with the Swiss official.

The Swiss government also confirmed the conversation, saying Ms Baume-Schneider thanked Nigerian doctors, other healthcare professionals and authorities for their efforts.

Mr Pate similarly thanked healthcare and public health teams in Nigeria and Switzerland, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), Swiss health authorities and the WHO for their roles in the evacuation.

Despite the patient’s departure, Mr Pate said Nigeria’s response to the Ebola case was continuing.

“Here in Nigeria, contact monitoring, investigation of alerts and other containment measures continue,” he said, adding that the response was receiving support from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the WHO Regional Office for Africa.

The WHO said Nigeria was continuing to monitor 52 contacts, while Switzerland had taken responsibility for the patient’s care and monitoring her husband, who was among the 53 contacts previously identified.

The NCDC had earlier identified 53 primary contacts linked to the confirmed case, including healthcare workers, the patient’s husband, domestic staff and personnel involved in collecting samples.

Health authorities are monitoring the contacts for possible symptoms to detect any additional infections and prevent further transmission.

Mr Pate had earlier said Nigeria could declare the Ebola outbreak over as early as 7 December if no further confirmed or probable cases were detected.

Nigeria confirmed its first Ebola case on 20 October, after a 42-year-old Ugandan-born woman living in Abuja tested positive for the disease.

The patient had returned to Nigeria on 3 October after travelling to Uganda and developed symptoms few days later.

She was subsequently admitted to a health facility in Abuja, where she received treatment in isolation before her evacuation to Switzerland on Monday.

Following her evacuation, WHO said Nigeria had no active confirmed Ebola cases, although contact monitoring and other containment measures were continuing.

Nike Adebowale covers the health beat. She holds a degree from Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti. Twitter: @nikeadebowale1