Ebola Patient Arrives Safely In Switzerland, Husband Isolated – FG

The Nigerian Ebola index patient and her husband have arrived safely in Switzerland, where she is receiving medical care at Geneva University Hospitals, while her spouse has been placed in isolation at the University Hospital Zurich.

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, disclosed this via his X handle on Monday, following confirmation from Swiss authorities that the medical evacuation was completed successfully.

Pate said Switzerland had expressed appreciation for the care provided by Nigerian health professionals and the cooperation between both countries and the World Health Organisation (WHO) that facilitated the evacuation.

According to the minister, Federal Councillor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider conveyed Switzerland’s appreciation during a telephone conversation with him.

He thanked the clinical and public health teams in Nigeria and Switzerland, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health and WHO Nigeria for their collaboration.

Pate also wished the patient a continued recovery.

Despite the successful evacuation, the minister said Nigeria’s public health response remained ongoing, with contact monitoring, investigation of alerts and other containment measures continuing.

He added that the response was receiving support from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the WHO Regional Office for Africa.

The minister said NCDC and the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare would continue to provide regular updates on the outbreak.

Nigeria’s health authorities have maintained that surveillance and contact tracing must continue to prevent further transmission and establish the conditions required for the outbreak to be declared over.