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A United Kingdom-based virologist at the University of Lancaster, Muhammed Munir, has warned that the long incubation period of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola could make it difficult to identify infected individuals early.
Munir said infected people might not develop clinical symptoms until two weeks or more after contracting the virus, which could complicate efforts to detect and contain infections.
He made this known during an interview on Channels Television on Monday.
“One of the complex things with the Ebola virus compared to many other infections that we currently are dealing with is that it has a very long incubation period, which means that if a person is infected today, the clinical signs could turn out to be in two weeks or at the end of the three weeks’ time”.
He explained that the delayed appearance of symptoms could make people underestimate the possibility of infection, particularly if they had travelled from areas where the virus was suspected to be circulating.
“So, because of this long incubation period, people think, oh, they have been in DRC like three months before or two weeks to three weeks before they might have not really contracted that infection from there, but because of this longer incubation period of up to two weeks, the person could still be carrying the infection but not showing the clinical signs; the clinical signs would only start coming in the second week or so”, he added.
Ebola Case Raises Questions Over Uganda Connection
Munir’s comments come with reports of a Bundibugyo strain Ebola case involving a 42-year-old woman in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
The woman reportedly returned from Uganda via Addis Ababa and arrived in Abuja on an international flight on October 3.
She was said to have developed symptoms four days later and was admitted to a private health facility on October 10, where she was receiving treatment. Health officials also placed contacts linked to the case under observation.
In an update on Sunday, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) said the number of contacts linked to the index case had increased to 53.
The reported case has also prompted questions about the possible source of the infection, particularly claims linking the index case to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Munir said the circumstances surrounding the woman’s travel history and the identification of the index case required further scrutiny.
“However, I must say that if the person who has been considered as the index case hasn’t been to DRC and has only been to Uganda, that really raises some of the serious questions: that Uganda can be reporting the cases, but if somebody caught the infection within the country, that means that the disease is not considered free from Uganda, so the disease is still prevalent over there”.
Virologist Urges Early Reporting of Symptoms
Speaking further, Munir urged people who suspect they may be infected not to feel embarrassed about seeking medical attention.
He stressed that early reporting and examination of suspected cases were important for understanding the spread of the virus and improving efforts to contain it.
“So, one should not feel shy about accepting those facts because until we really look at those cases, we are not going to have a good handle on the infection,” he said.
