Nigeria Ebola patient contacts complete 21-day monitoring without signs of infection

Good news out of Nigeria where authorities say no further cases of Ebola have been detected since a woman arriving from Uganda tested positive for the virus last month.

All 62 contacts linked to the patient have now completed a 21-day monitoring period without signs of infection, the country’s Centre for Disease Control said on Friday.

On October 20, Nigeria announced that a Swiss woman returning to Abuja after spending time in Uganda had tested positive for Ebola. Authorities said it was the same Bundibugyo strain of the virus driving the latest outbreak in the DRC.

The patient received treatment in Switzerland and has since recovered.

Passing the 21-day monitoring period doesn’t in itself mean an end to the outbreak. Nigeria will need to go 42 days without another confirmed infection before it’s declared Ebola-free, according to World Health Organization protocols.

No specific treatment or vaccine exists for the Bundibugyo strain, which was first detected in the DRC in May. It’s since infected more than 11,000 people, almost half of whom have died. A trial of two candidate vaccines is currently underway.

Cases have also been detected in Uganda and Kenya.