Nigeria’s confirmed Ebola patient has reportedly been evacuated from the country by air ambulance via the private jet wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja early Monday.
The patient a 42-year-old woman said to be the wife of a Swiss diplomat in Nigeria was reportedly transported to the airport in a convoy of ambulances and diplomatic vehicles before being transferred to a medical evacuation aircraft.
Airport officials reportedly cordoned off the private jet wing during the operation while the medical aircraft and its crew prepared to transport the patient out of the country.
A source familiar with the evacuation said the Federal Government was expected to announce the development after the aircraft had taken off and left Nigerian airspace.
Officials had not officially confirmed the circumstances surrounding the evacuation or the patient’s destination at the time of reporting.
A video showing preparations for the reported evacuation has also been circulating on social media.
It shows officials lifting the patient enclosed in what appears to be a patient isolation unit onto a stretcher and then into the aircraft ahead of take-off.