Switzerland receives Nigeria’s Ebola patient, places husband in Isolation
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Switzerland receives Nigeria’s Ebola patient, places husband in Isolation
Switzerland has confirmed receiving Nigeria’s Ebola index patient and her husband, who accompanied her to the country.
On Monday, the federal government evacuated the 42-year-old woman, who was diagnosed with the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola virus disease, to Switzerland aboard a medical plane.
Ali Pate, coordinating minister of health and social welfare, said the patient was clinically much improved, stable, conscious and communicating, with her laboratory test results approaching baseline levels.
In a statement on Monday, the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) said the patient was receiving treatment at Geneva University Hospital (HUG), while her husband, identified as a close contact, had been placed in isolation at Zurich University Hospital (USZ).
The Swiss authorities said the case pose no health risk to the country, adding that both hospitals were equipped to manage patients with infectious diseases such as Ebola while protecting healthcare workers and other patients.
They added that the facilities have specialised isolation wards and trained medical personnel to manage such infections.
“The current situation does not pose any risk to public health in Switzerland,” the FOPH said.
According to the statement, the FOPH said it was working closely with the university hospitals in Geneva and Zurich, as well as the relevant cantonal authorities, to manage the situation.
Elisabeth Baume-Schneider, Switzerland’s federal councillor, expressed appreciation to the Nigeria’s minister of health, during a telephone conversation.
Baume-Schneider thanked the doctors and other healthcare professionals in Nigeria for caring for the two Swiss nationals before their evacuation.
She also commended the Nigerian government and the World Health Organisation (WHO) for their cooperation in facilitating the evacuation.
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In response, Pate thanked the clinical and public-health teams in Nigeria and Switzerland, as well as the WHO’s team in Nigeria, for their cooperation.
He added that contact monitoring, investigation of alerts and other containment measures were continuing in Nigeria, while wishing the patient continued recovery.
