(Posted 21st October 2026)
Nigeria has recorded a case of Ebola in a female patient who travelled from Uganda in East Africa to Abuja, capital of the West African state.
Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate said the diagnosis had been confirmed by laboratory tests.
The patient is in isolation and receiving medical care after being admitted to a hospital in Abuja.
Health authorities have begun contact-tracing to prevent further spread, with 44 close contacts of the woman identified.
Contact tracing is also ongoing in East Africa over this case, which will include search for other passengers and crew on the flight the patient used to Abuja.
Nigeria, the first West African state to report a case linked to the current Ebola crisis in East Africa, successfully stopped a previous outbreak in 2014.
Ebola is a rare but deadly disease caused by a virus. As the disease progresses, vomiting and diarrhoea develop and it can lead to organ failure. Some, but not all, patients develop internal and external bleeding.
The disease spreads from one person to another by contact with infected bodily fluids such as blood or vomit.
The outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo, which began in May, has claimed at least 4,600 lives, with more than 9,500 cases recorded, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reports.
Another outbreak linked to the Congo DR is presently unfolding in Kenya, where as of yesterday 9 confirmed cases are known, all of them in quarantine and all but one contact tracing having been successful.
On Monday this week the US advised its citizens to reconsider travel to Kenya because of health risks and raised its travel advisory level for the country to Level 3 in general and to Level 4 for specific areas in Nairobi and across the country. The US State Department also keeps a Level 4 travel advisory in place against Uganda and both the US and Canada have continued entry restrictions against Ugandans and travelers coming from Uganda.
Since the outbreak, Nigeria has stepped up disease surveillance, with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control issuing public health advice to travellers.
The agency says travellers from countries with active or relevant Ebola transmission may be required to complete a health declaration form. Those arriving from other countries are currently exempt.
