Nigeria confirms an Ebola case, health minister says
Authorities are tracing 44 contacts as the patient remains isolated and receiving care, while investigators work to identify where she was infected.
- On Tuesday, October 20, 2026, Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate confirmed Nigeria's first Ebola case in Abuja, involving a woman who recently arrived from Uganda and is now isolated at a private hospital receiving medical care.
- Laboratory tests identified the Bundibugyo Ebola virus strain, which originated in the Democratic Republic of Congo in May 2026 and has since spread to five countries, according to the World Health Organization .
- Monitoring 44 close contacts identified by health authorities, the patient first sought care for malaria-like symptoms at a private facility on October 11 before testing positive for Ebola on October 20.
- Federal and Federal Capital Territory health agencies activated an incident management system, placing all public and private medical facilities nationwide on high alert to detect and report suspected cases immediately.
- Drawing on experience from its successful 2014 containment effort, Nigeria is managing this emergency while experts warn the Bundibugyo strain lacks an approved vaccine, complicating efforts to contain what the WHO describes as a rapidly growing outbreak.
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Swiss diplomat's wife identified as Nigeria's first Ebola patient
Switzerland has confirmed that Nigeria's first Ebola patient is the wife of a Swiss embassy staff member in Abuja. The woman, who has the Bundibugyo strain, recently travelled to Uganda with her husband, but neither visited the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Nigeria Reports First Case of Ebola in Over a Decade
Nigeria has reported its first case of the Ebola virus in over a decade, becoming the fourth African nation to be affected by an outbreak that’s killed over 4,600 people and sickened nearly 10,000 others. The patient is receiving care in a hospital in Nigeria’s capital Abuja. She arrived on a flight from Ethiopia earlier this month; prior to that, she had traveled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the epicenter of what’s now the fastest-s…
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