Somalia releases Ebola contact after two negative tests, 21-day quarantine

Mogadishu (HOL) — Somali Health Ministry released a man from Ebola quarantine after two tests returned negative and he completed a 21-day monitoring period without developing symptoms, officials announced Sunday.

The man had been placed in isolation after health authorities determined that he had direct contact with a person infected with Bundibugyo Ebola virus disease who later died in Kenya.

The ministry said the man was transferred on Oct. 12 to an Ebola quarantine and treatment center at Forlanini Hospital in Mogadishu, where he was monitored under infection-control protocols.

He underwent two Ebola tests, one conducted in Somalia and another sent abroad for confirmation. Both returned negative, the ministry said.

The man also remained free of Ebola symptoms throughout the quarantine period and completed 21 days of monitoring, the maximum incubation period generally used for Ebola contact follow-up.

“Taking into account the results of both tests, the completion of the monitoring period, the citizen’s health status, and an assessment of public health risks ... the Ministry of Health has decided to release the citizen from quarantine,” the statement said.

Health Minister Dr. Ali Haji Adan said authorities would continue surveillance and monitoring as the regional outbreak develops.

The exposure was linked to Kenya’s first confirmed case of Bundibugyo Ebola virus disease, an imported case involving a man who had traveled from the Democratic Republic of Congo through Uganda before arriving in Nairobi on Oct. 3. He tested positive on Oct. 5 and died later that day, according to the World Health Organization.

Kenyan authorities initially identified dozens of contacts connected to the case and placed high-risk contacts under quarantine. By Oct. 20, Kenya had reported nine Bundibugyo Ebola cases, including deaths, all linked to the original imported case, according to WHO.

Somali health authorities have not reported any locally acquired or imported confirmed Ebola infection.