Nigeria has reported the first confirmed case of coronavirus in West Africa. 

Health officials said the case involved an Italian citizen who entered the country on February 24 on a Turkish Airlines flight from Milan via Istanbul.

The virus has proliferated around the globe over the past week prompting many governments and businesses to try to stop people travelling or gathering in crowded places.

The Nigerian case is just the third to be confirmed in Africa, something that has puzzled health specialists given the continent’s close ties to China.

According to Nigerian officials, the Italian man stayed in a hotel near the airport on the evening of February 24, then continued to his place of work in neighbouring Ogun state. He was treated on February 26 at his company’s medical facility before health practitioners there called government biosecurity officers, who transferred him on February 27 to a containment facility in Yaba, Lagos. He was clinically stable with no serious symptoms, authorities said.

There is anxiety in many countries, despite reinforced protective measures. In Kenya there has been a backlash against authorities who allowed the first direct flight from China in two weeks. The high court ordered flights from China to be temporarily suspended.