The Federal Government has confirmed one imported case of Ebola virus disease in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, with 44 close contacts already identified.
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, disclosed this at a media briefing in Abuja on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, following laboratory confirmation.
According to the minister, the patient is a woman who recently arrived in Nigeria on an international flight from Uganda. She was admitted to a private hospital in the FCT where she received care for several days before the diagnosis was confirmed.
She is currently in isolation and receiving medical care.
Pate said the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), the FCT Health Services Secretariat, Africa CDC and other partners are working together to contain the infection and prevent further spread.
Public health teams have commenced contact tracing. The 44 contacts identified so far include healthcare workers, patients, caregivers and travel contacts. Surveillance has been intensified at entry points and the hospital where the patient was treated is receiving immediate support to strengthen infection prevention and control measures.
The government urged public and private health facilities nationwide to remain on high alert, maintain a high index of suspicion, promptly identify and isolate suspected cases, observe strict infection prevention protocols and immediately report suspected cases.
Pate urged Nigerians to remain calm and vigilant, practise good hygiene, including regular handwashing with soap and water, avoid contact with blood and body fluids of suspected cases, and cooperate with public health officials.
He said the situation is being managed, drawing on Nigeria’s experience from the 2014 Ebola outbreak, and assured of timely and transparent updates.
Ebola spreads through direct contact with blood or body fluids of a sick person or one who has died from the disease, and with contaminated materials. Symptoms include fever, weakness, headache, vomiting and diarrhoea.
The confirmation comes amid heightened regional alert following an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and confirmation of imported cases in Kenya. The NCDC had on Oct. 6 said there was no confirmed case in Nigeria but had heightened surveillance due to travel and population movement. 31ae4561