Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Nigeria Health Officials Prepare for Possible Outbreak After 1st Coronavirus
Case Confirmed

Timothy Obiezu

   ABUJA, NIGERIA - Nigerian Health authorities are preparing to handle
   any possible outbreak and urge citizens to remain calm.
   "We have enough reagents to do the checking now, there are four
   laboratories in Nigeria that can test for this particular virus,"
   Health Minister Emmanuel Osagie said. "We also have a system for sample
   transport, so samples can be taken from somewhere and transported to a
   testing center within a few hours. So that is part of the network that
   we have prepared."

   The effort comes as officials confirmed the country's first case of the
   coronavirus. Nigerian health authorities say the patient is a man from
   Italy -- a country hit hard by the virus -- who works in Nigeria and
   returned from the Italian city of Milan to Nigeria's economic hub,
   Lagos, days ago.

   This makes Nigeria the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to record a
   case of the virus, which is blamed for more than 2,800 deaths
   worldwide.

.