44 in Isolation as Investigators Check Entebbe Airport Timeline

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that at least 4,600 people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo outbreak that began in May, with roughly 9,700 infected. It has spread faster than any Ebola outbreak previously recorded.

Nigeria reported its first case in more than a decade on Tuesday. The patient is the Ugandan-born wife of a diplomat posted to Abuja. She vacationed in Uganda in September and returned to Nigeria earlier this month. Dr. Wessam Mankoula, who leads emergency preparedness and response at the Africa CDC, said she is receiving treatment and that 44 people who had close contact with her are in quarantine. Investigators are still working to establish how she contracted the virus.

Nigeria is the fourth African country to record a case in this outbreak, the first in West Africa, and the furthest from the Congo epicenter. Uganda reported about 20 cases before being declared free of Ebola in August. Kenya confirmed its first case in early October and has since confirmed eight more. The first Kenyan patient, who died, traveled from Congo to Kenya through Uganda.

Both that patient and the Nigerian case were present at Entebbe International Airport on the same day, which prompted the inquiry. Mankoula said the Africa CDC was looking into whether there was "some sort of interaction between the two cases at the airport."

Ebola spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person or through contaminated items. It causes severe fever and can be fatal. People are generally not considered infectious until symptoms appear.