Husband of Swiss Ebola patient discharged from hospital

The husband of Switzerland’s Ebola patient has left hospital without developing symptoms. Zurich University Hospital (USZ) discharged him and transferred him to a quarantine facility outside the hospital, Keystone-SDA reported on November 5.

The man works for the Swiss Embassy in Nigeria. He was brought back to Switzerland from Nigeria on October 26 with his wife, who was ill with Ebola. She is being treated at Geneva University Hospital (HUG).

The transfer marks a change in the husband’s care setting, while his wife remains under treatment in Geneva. HUG has said it cannot provide information about her condition for data-protection reasons. The woman tested positive for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola in Nigeria on October 20.

The case has connected hospitals and public-health authorities in several parts of Switzerland with events in Nigeria. The husband’s discharge follows his period at USZ without symptoms; he has now been moved to quarantine outside the hospital.

The World Health Organisation puts Ebola’s incubation period at two to 21 days. The husband had developed no symptoms by the time USZ discharged him, and he was transferred to a quarantine facility outside the hospital.

The couple arrived in Switzerland on October 26, six days after the woman tested positive for Bundibugyo Ebola in Nigeria. Those dates fall within the period the WHO gives for incubation, but the reported timeline alone does not establish whether the husband was infected.

His wife is receiving treatment at HUG in Geneva. The hospital has cited data-protection reasons for not sharing information about her condition. The husband’s discharge from USZ therefore concerns his own status and placement, while his wife’s care continues separately in Geneva.

The incubation period is the key time frame in the account of the couple’s return and the husband’s monitoring. He remains in a quarantine facility after leaving hospital without symptoms.

Nigeria had reported no further confirmed Ebola cases by the time of the update. At the beginning of November, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said authorities were monitoring 62 close contacts.

The Swiss woman tested positive for Bundibugyo Ebola in Nigeria on October 20. Her husband, an employee of the Swiss Embassy in Nigeria, returned with her to Switzerland on October 26. He was later discharged from USZ without symptoms and moved to a quarantine facility outside the hospital.

The contact count offers a snapshot of the public-health response in Nigeria after the woman’s diagnosis. It is separate from her treatment in Geneva and her husband’s quarantine in Switzerland. The reported figure was 62 people being monitored, not 62 confirmed cases.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention’s update also stated that no additional Ebola cases had been confirmed in the country to date. The Swiss patient’s treatment remains at HUG.

This is the third time a person has been treated for Ebola in Switzerland. The Federal Office of Public Health says the two earlier cases occurred in 1995 and 2014, and both patients survived.

The current patient is receiving care at HUG in Geneva after testing positive for Bundibugyo Ebola in Nigeria. Her husband, who works for the Swiss Embassy in Nigeria, was treated at USZ in Zurich. He developed no symptoms and was discharged to a quarantine facility outside the hospital.

The case has involved medical care in Geneva and Zurich, alongside monitoring of close contacts in Nigeria. The WHO’s stated incubation period for Ebola is two to 21 days. In Nigeria, authorities were monitoring 62 close contacts at the beginning of November, and no further cases had been confirmed there to date.

The husband’s hospital discharge and transfer to quarantine are the latest reported developments in Switzerland. His wife remains under treatment at HUG.