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 poses 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 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.
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.
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