Nigeria’s Ebola index patient has arrived in Switzerland for treatment at Geneva University Hospitals, while her husband, identified as a close contact, has been placed in isolation at University Hospital Zurich.
The Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, confirmed their arrival in a statement posted on his X handle on Monday, following their medical evacuation from Nigeria earlier in the day.
Pate said Swiss authorities had confirmed their safe arrival, adding that Nigeria would continue to monitor contacts, investigate alerts and sustain other containment measures despite the evacuation.
The minister had earlier announced that the patient had departed Abuja for Switzerland with his approval. He said her condition had improved considerably, and that her clinical and laboratory results were approaching baseline levels, although she could still transmit the virus.
“I Confirm that, with my approval, earlier this morning, the index case for Nigeria’s first imported Ebola virus disease departed Abuja for Switzerland.
“The index patient was clinically much improved, stable, conscious, communicating, and her clinical laboratory test results closing towards baseline,” said Pate.
In a statement accompanying Pate’s update, the Swiss Federal Council confirmed that the patient was receiving treatment at Geneva University Hospital, while her husband was in isolation at Zurich University Hospital.
The statement identified the couple as Swiss citizens who had been repatriated from Nigeria on a medical evacuation flight.
It said both hospitals were equipped to manage Ebola cases while protecting healthcare workers and other patients.
“This situation does not pose any risk to the population in Switzerland.”
The Swiss Federal Office of Public Health said it was liaising with the hospitals in Geneva and Zurich, as well as the relevant cantonal authorities.
It added that the two hospitals had been equipped since 2019 to treat patients with diseases such as Ebola, with isolation wards and trained medical personnel.
Ebola virus disease is a serious illness that can spread through close contact with a symptomatic person or an infected animal.
In a telephone conversation, Swiss Federal Councillor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider thanked Pate for the care provided to the couple in Nigeria and acknowledged the cooperation between the Nigerian authorities, healthcare professionals and the World Health Organisation (WHO) that facilitated their transfer.
The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Prof. Mohamed Janabi, also confirmed the couple’s arrival in Switzerland in a separate post on X.
He said the organisation would continue supporting Nigeria’s Ebola response as authorities monitored contacts following the detection of the case.
“I commend the national authorities and the health workers whose close collaboration enabled safe transfer.
“@WHO continues to support Nigeria in strengthening all aspects of the #Ebola response, as the country continues to monitor contacts following the detection of the now-evacuated case,” Janabi said.