Nigeria confirms first case of coronavirus

By Felix Tih

ANKARA (AA) - Nigerian health officials on Friday confirmed the first case of coronavirus in the West African nation.

''The case is an Italian citizen who works in Nigeria and returned from Milan, Italy to Lagos, Nigeria on 25th February 2020,'' Osagie Ehanire, Nigeria's federal health minister, said in a statement.

''The patient is clinically stable, with no serious symptoms, and is under treatment at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba, Lagos,'' he added.

It is the first case of the virus in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Nigeria is one of the 13 countries identified as high priority by WHO and experts are already on the ground, said the organization.

''We have already started working to identify all those the patient has contacted since he entered Nigeria,'' Ehanire said.

The overall death toll in China hit 2,790, including two in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Over 65,200 people are currently under medical care, while the number of discharged patients totals around 36,120.

According to WHO, the coronavirus known as COVID-19, has spread to more than 45 other countries, including the U.S., U.K., Singapore, France, Russia, Spain and India.

The WHO has declared the outbreak an international health emergency.