First case of Ebola recorded in Nigeria

Medical staff carry a patient on a stretcher in Rwampara, Uganda. [Seros Muyisa, AFP]

Nigeria has recorded its first Ebola case of Africa's latest outbreak in a woman who had travelled from Uganda to the capital Abuja, the government confirmed on Tuesday.

Since a major Ebola outbreak was declared in the Democratic Republic of Congo in May, the deadly viral haemorrhagic fever has spread to several countries across the continent, including to neighbouring Uganda.

"The patient, a woman who recently arrived in Nigeria on an international flight from Uganda, was admitted to a private hospital... where she received care for several days before the diagnosis was confirmed," Nigerian health minister Muhammad Ali Pate said in a statement.

"She is currently in isolation and receiving medical care.

"Contact tracing has commenced with 44 close contacts identified presently," the statement added, "with public health teams identifying and monitoring people who may have been exposed, including healthcare workers, patients, caregivers and travel contacts".

In several months, the DRC's Ebola epidemic has become the deadliest in the country's history, killing 4,381 people out of more than 9,000 confirmed cases, according to the health authorities.

On Tuesday, Kenya's health ministry reported its ninth Ebola case of the recent outbreak.