The world moves. We make sense of it.

In brief

• African health officials are investigating whether the first Ebola patients in Kenya and Nigeria crossed paths at Entebbe International Airport in Uganda on 3 October.
• Nigeria's first case in over a decade is a Ugandan-born woman married to a Swiss diplomat in Abuja; Switzerland says she did not travel to DR Congo and believes she was infected in Uganda.
• Kenya has reported nine cases, with the first patient confirmed on 6 October and most later infections linked to him.
• The outbreak, first detected in DR Congo in mid-May, has reached four countries, the widest geographic spread of any Ebola outbreak on the continent to date.

Shared transit point under investigation

African health authorities are checking whether the first confirmed Ebola cases in Kenya and Nigeria came into contact at Entebbe International Airport in Uganda. Both patients were recorded passing through the airport on 3 October (Uganda says it has no active Ebola cases, but infections in Kenya and Nigeria are prompting fresh scrutiny – DW) (Nigeria and Kenya Ebola patients may have crossed paths at Uganda airport, officials say – BBC News) (First Ebola patients in Nigeria and Kenya might have crossed paths at Uganda airport – apnews.com). Officials say it is not yet known whether the two encountered each other or whether any virus was passed between them.

Conflicting accounts of the Nigerian patient

Nigeria recorded its first Ebola case in more than a decade this week (Authorities investigating whether first Kenyan and Nigerian Ebola cases crossed paths – NPR). The woman who tested positive was born in Uganda and is married to a Swiss diplomat stationed in Abuja. According to Switzerland's foreign ministry, she never set foot in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which runs counter to what Ugandan officials had said earlier about a visit to the country's east (Health officials race to trace source of Nigeria’s Ebola infection – Investing.com) (Ebola patient in Nigeria did not visit DR Congo, escalating concern over spread of virus – The Guardian). Swiss authorities believe she was infected while travelling with her husband in Uganda.

Uganda's position

Uganda says it has no confirmed active Ebola cases. Its health authorities remain at the centre of investigations into infections in two countries thousands of kilometres apart.

Kenya's cluster

Kenya's health ministry reported a ninth case this week. The country's first patient, a man in his forties who worked in business and had spent time living in the Democratic Republic of Congo, was confirmed as infected on 6 October. He died in Nairobi on 5 October. Most of the later cases are people closely linked to him. Officials are now trying to establish whether that cluster is connected to the Nigerian case.

Wider spread

The outbreak was first detected in the Democratic Republic of Congo in mid-May and has since reached Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria, the broadest geographical reach of any Ebola outbreak recorded on the continent so far. The source of the Nigerian infection remains unconfirmed. Health officials say tracing contacts is the priority while the investigation continues.