Ebola: Suspected index patient evacuated from Nigeria by air ambulance – Report

A woman reportedly identified as Nigeria’s Ebola index patient has been evacuated from the country by air ambulance, according to a report.

The medical evacuation reportedly took place early Monday through the private jet section of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.

According to ARISE News, sources had earlier informed the organisation that the woman, reportedly the wife of a Swiss diplomat in Nigeria, would be flown out of the country at about 6 a.m.

Its crew, deployed to the airport’s General Aviation Terminal, reportedly observed a convoy of ambulances and diplomatic vehicles arriving at the private aviation section.

The report said airport officials cordoned off the area, while the news organisation later obtained video footage showing a medical evacuation aircraft and its crew preparing to transport a passenger.

It said the circumstances surrounding the evacuation led it to suspect that the passenger was the reported Ebola index patient.

The report added that a source indicated the Federal Government would announce the evacuation after the aircraft had taken off and left Nigerian airspace.

However, the report did not include an official confirmation from the Federal Government, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), or airport authorities establishing the passenger’s identity, diagnosis or destination.

The circumstances surrounding the reported evacuation therefore remain subject to official confirmation.