By Camillus Eboh
ABUJA, Oct 22 (Reuters) – Nigeria’s health minister said on Thursday authorities had no evidence that the country’s recently confirmed Ebola case had spread into the wider community, describing it as a single, contained infection.
Nigeria reported its first Ebola case in more than a decade on Tuesday, becoming the fourth African country and the most populous yet to be affected by an outbreak that health officials have described as the fastest-spreading on record.
• Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate said “there is no evidence that it has gone into the communities” and that there was “no need for any panic”, as health officials intensified contact tracing and monitoring of people who may have been exposed
• “This is a contained, single case and we are diligently working to ensure that it remains so,” he said
• Pate said there was no reason at present to alter plans for large public gatherings, but left open the possibility of additional measures if the situation worsened
• “We have only one case, and hopefully it will stay that way,” he said
(Reporting by Camillus Eboh, Writitng by Elisha Bala-Gbogbo, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
