Nigeria Confirms Ebola Case in Abuja as Health Authorities Begin Contact Tracing

Nigeria has confirmed an Ebola case in Abuja after laboratory testing detected the virus in a woman who recently travelled to the country, Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate said on Tuesday, October 20, 2026.

The patient is currently in isolation at a private hospital in Abuja, where she is receiving medical care. Health authorities have begun contact tracing, with 44 people already identified as contacts, according to Pate.

The minister said the patient had travelled from Uganda in East Africa before arriving in Nigeria. However, Uganda’s Health Ministry said the woman had previously travelled to the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo for business and passed through Uganda in early October while showing no symptoms.

Ugandan officials stressed that travelling through the country did not establish that the woman contracted Ebola there. The location where she was exposed to the virus remains under investigation.

Pate said Nigeria has the experience and public health infrastructure needed to respond to the case, recalling the country’s successful containment of Ebola during the 2014 outbreak.

The development comes as Ebola cases continue to spread in parts of Africa. The Democratic Republic of Congo declared an outbreak in mid May 2026, which has since become the world’s second largest Ebola outbreak on record. The outbreak is being driven by the relatively rare Bundibugyo strain.

Uganda recorded 20 cases in May and June, most linked to infections imported from Congo, before the World Health Organization declared the country free of Ebola in August. Kenya has also reported nine cases in October, all linked to a person who travelled from Congo.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has begun mobilising support for Nigeria as health authorities work to determine how the virus entered the country and prevent further transmission.

For Abuja residents, health officials are expected to focus on rapid identification of contacts, monitoring for symptoms and strengthening infection prevention measures as investigations continue.