By Eshioromeh Sebastian
Forty four people, including health workers who treated Nigeria’s confirmed Ebola patient, other patients at the private Abuja hospital where she was attended to, caregivers and passengers who may have travelled with her, are now under surveillance as authorities race to establish who else may have been exposed before the woman was isolated.
The contacts were identified after the patient, a woman who recently returned from Uganda, tested positive for Ebola virus disease on October 20.
She developed symptoms on October 7 and sought care at the private facility four days later. By the time her infection was confirmed, she had been in the hospital setting for more than a week. That is why the contact list includes clinical staff and patients who shared the facility with her, not just her household.
Health Minister Prof. Ali Pate, who disclosed the figures on Tuesday, said tracing was continuing. “Contact tracing has been conducted, and it’s underway as we speak, with 44 contacts already identified,” he said, urging anyone approached by tracing teams, including fellow travellers, to cooperate fully.
The hospital where the woman was treated is receiving support to strengthen infection prevention and control, while public and private facilities nationwide have been placed on alert to isolate and report suspected cases.
The response is being coordinated by the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, the FCT Health Secretariat, the World Health Organisation and the Africa CDC.
Regional emergency
The Nigerian case lands in the middle of a wider Ebola emergency across the continent. Kenya has reported nine confirmed cases, while the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to battle an outbreak with a mortality rate approaching 50 per cent.
Africa CDC Director General Dr Jean Kaseya, who said he had spoken with Pate and commended him for promptly sharing information, described the Bundibugyo outbreak as “the most geographically widespread Ebola outbreak in history, affecting multiple countries across three regions of Africa.”
He warned that the situation in the DRC remained particularly serious and said the agency was mobilising support for Nigeria while intensifying its response in the DRC and Kenya and maintaining vigilance in Uganda.
“My appeal to the international community is urgent: Act Now,” Kaseya said, calling for flexible financing, medical supplies, diagnostic capacity, trained responders and stronger community based surveillance.
“We cannot allow this outbreak to spread to more countries or continue for another year,” he added. “Africa’s health security is global health security. Stopping Ebola in Africa today means protecting the world. Nigeria has our full solidarity.”
What Nigerians should know
Ebola spreads through direct contact with the blood or body fluids of an infected person who has developed symptoms, or someone who has died from the infection. Contaminated clothing, bedding and medical equipment can also transmit the virus, as can contact with infected animals.
Symptoms, including fever, severe headache, weakness, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhoea and abdominal pain, typically appear between two and 21 days after exposure. Early symptoms can resemble malaria, which is why prompt testing matters. Ebola is not generally transmitted before symptoms develop, making early detection, isolation and contact tracing central to containment.
Pate urged Nigerians to remain calm but vigilant, avoid spreading unverified information and cooperate with tracing teams. He pointed to Nigeria’s successful containment of the 2014 outbreak and said the country has the expertise and systems to manage the current case.
He also disclosed that the Presidential Task Force on Ebola Virus Disease was constituted in May 2026 as part of preparedness efforts.
The public can report suspected cases or seek information on the NCDC toll free line, 6232, which operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Investigations and contact tracing are continuing, with further updates expected.
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