Nigeria’s Ebola patient evacuated from country

Nigeria’s confirmed Ebola patient has reportedly been evacuated from the country aboard an air ambulance through the private jet terminal of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

Arise News reported on Monday that the patient, a 42-year-old woman said to be the wife of a Swiss diplomat, was scheduled to leave Nigeria at about 6am.

The report said the medical evacuation aircraft was stationed at the airport ahead of the operation.

Footage shared online showed a convoy of ambulances arriving at the airport with diplomatic vehicles. The convoy, which reportedly came from Abuja city centre, also included a vehicle belonging to an international agency.

Airport officials reportedly cordoned off the private aviation section during the operation.

Additional footage showed a medical evacuation aircraft and personnel attending to a passenger believed to be the Ebola patient. However, the passenger’s identity could not be independently established from the video.

The Federal Government was expected to announce the evacuation after the aircraft had left Nigerian airspace.

The reported evacuation comes six days after the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) confirmed an Ebola infection in a woman who arrived in Abuja from Uganda through Addis Ababa on October 3.

The patient developed symptoms on October 7, while laboratory tests confirmed the infection on October 20.

At a briefing on Sunday, NCDC Director General Jide Idris said 53 primary contacts had been identified and placed under monitoring.

The agency also confirmed that a suspected Ebola case in Rivers State had tested negative.

As of the time of filing this report, the Federal Government had not officially confirmed the evacuation or disclosed the patient’s destination.

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