尼日利亚正在继续监测52名与一名被送往瑞士治疗的埃博拉患者有过接触的人员，这给本已因人员短缺和医疗质量担忧而举步维艰的卫生系统带来了压力。
Nigeria is continuing to monitor 52 people who had contact with an Ebola patient evacuated to Switzerland, putting pressure on a health system already struggling with staff shortages and concerns over the quality of care.
据尼日利亚疾病控制与预防中心称，这些接触者将从最后一次可能接触之日起被追踪观察21天，这是这种致命病毒症状可能出现的潜伏期。他们包括医护人员以及该女子发病后与其接触的其他人。
The contacts are being followed for 21 days from their last possible exposure, the period during which symptoms of the deadly virus may develop. They include health workers and others who came into contact with the woman after she fell ill, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
非洲各国政府正试图遏制一场始于刚果民主共和国的不断扩大的埃博拉疫情。尼日利亚的这名患者从乌干达出发，于10月3日经由恩德培机场中转，同一天肯尼亚首例确诊病例也途经该机场。当局正在调查两人的行程是否有重叠。
African governments are trying to contain a widening Ebola outbreak that began in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Nigeria’s patient traveled from Uganda and passed through Entebbe airport on Oct. 3, the same day as the person with Kenya’s first confirmed case. Authorities are investigating whether their movements overlapped.
尼日利亚拥有丰富的抗击埃博拉经验。2014年，一名感染者抵达拉各斯后，尼日利亚通过密集的接触者追踪成功遏制了疫情，防止了更广泛的传播。这一次，当局已启动最高级别的事件管理系统，并正在加强医疗机构的筛查、隔离和感染控制措施。目前，尼日利亚尚未记录到由这起输入性病例引发的后续传播。
Nigeria has considerable experience fighting Ebola. It contained an outbreak in 2014 after an infected traveler arrived in Lagos, using intensive contact tracing to prevent wider transmission. This time, authorities have activated their highest-level incident management system and are strengthening screening, isolation and infection-control measures at health facilities. For now, Nigeria has recorded no onward transmission from the imported case.
尽管如此，最新病例凸显了快速识别感染的挑战。该女子于10月10日首次前往一家私立医院就诊，距离出现症状已过去三天，但尼日利亚疾控中心直到10月19日才接到通报。埃博拉确诊结果于次日出炉。
Still, the latest case highlights the challenge of identifying infections quickly. The woman first sought treatment at a private hospital on Oct. 10, three days after developing symptoms, but the NCDC wasn’t notified until Oct. 19. Ebola was confirmed the following day.
这一事件发生之际，尼日利亚卫生系统的医疗标准正面临更广泛的审视。知名作家奇马曼达·阿迪契指责拉各斯一家私立医院的医疗疏忽导致其21个月大的儿子死亡。验尸官调查正在进行中。
The episode comes as Nigeria’s health system faces broader scrutiny over standards of care. Celebrated author Chimamanda Adichie blamed the death of her 21-month-old son at a private Lagos hospital on medical negligence. A coroner’s inquest is ongoing.
根据世界卫生组织支持的一项对尼日利亚卫生体系的评估，该国超过四分之三的卫生支出直接来自患者自付，只有约5%的尼日利亚人享有健康保险或其他风险分担安排的保障。基础设施薄弱和卫生工作者数量不足持续制约着基本卫生服务的获取。
More than three quarters of health spending comes directly from patients’ pockets and only about 5% of Nigerians are covered by health insurance or other risk-pooling arrangements, according to a WHO-backed assessment of the country’s health system. Poor infrastructure and inadequate numbers of health workers continue to constrain access to essential services.
这些弱点在埃博拉病毒面前尤为突出，埃博拉病毒通过直接接触感染者的血液或体液传播，如果病例不能被迅速识别和隔离，会使医护人员面临特别高的风险。
Those weaknesses matter particularly with Ebola, which spreads through direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an infected person and can place healthcare workers at particular risk if cases aren’t identified and isolated quickly.