The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, has confirmed the evacuation of Nigeria’s first imported case of Ebola virus disease to Switzerland.
In a statement posted on X on Monday, Pate said the patient departed Abuja early that morning with his approval after “significant clinical improvement.”
According to the Minister, the patient was “stable, conscious and communicating,” while her laboratory test results were “approaching baseline levels.”
However, he cautioned that the improvement did not necessarily mean she was no longer infectious, stressing that “strict public health protocols remained in place.”
Pate said the patient was evacuated with her spouse, who remained asymptomatic.
He commended the clinical personnel who treated the patient and the public health officials who coordinated the evacuation “in accordance with established public health measures.”
The Minister said the government would provide further updates later Monday, following the “successful arrival of the patient and her spouse at their destination.”
He also assured Nigerians that public health measures were continuing to contain the imported virus effectively, urging citizens to “remain vigilant and rely on credible sources of information.”
Earlier reports indicated that the 42-year-old woman, said to be the wife of a Swiss diplomat in Nigeria, was transported by ambulance convoy to the private jet wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja in preparation for the medical evacuation.
Airport officials reportedly cordoned off the private wing as medical personnel prepared the aircraft for departure.
A video circulating on social media appeared to show officials moving the patient, who appeared to be in an isolation unit, onto a stretcher before transferring her into the aircraft.
