Swiss Government Says Nigeria Ebola Patient Did Not Travel to Congo

The Ebola patient in Nigeria, identified as the Ugandan-born wife of a Swiss diplomat stationed in Abuja, did not travel to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to a statement from the Swiss government.

The Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs told Reuters on Friday that the woman, a Swiss national, was believed to have contracted Ebola while traveling with her husband in Uganda, where authorities maintain there are no cases.

Ugandan officials had previously stated that the patient had visited eastern Congo, where an ongoing outbreak was declared in mid‑May and has since become the fastest‑spreading on record. However, the World Health Organization and Africa’s top health agency said they had not received confirmed information of such travel.

“She and her husband did not travel to the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” the Swiss foreign affairs department said on Friday.

Uganda reported 20 Ebola cases in May and June, mostly imported from Congo, but the WHO declared the country Ebola‑free in August.

Ugandan government spokesperson Alan Kasujja told Reuters on Thursday that Uganda had no Ebola cases and that if it did, it would make that information public.

The case in Nigeria, the country’s first Ebola case in more than a decade, means the outbreak has spread to four African countries — Congo, Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria — and it is confirmed to have killed about 4,700 people, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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