The Federal Government has said the confirmed Ebola patient in Abuja is responding well to treatment and showing signs of recovery, with laboratory results indicating significant improvement.

Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, disclosed this while briefing journalists on the national response. He said he had spoken with the clinicians managing the case and that there is a possibility the patient could recover fully, though authorities would not take anything for granted.

The patient is a woman who recently arrived in Nigeria from Uganda (via Addis Ababa). She was asymptomatic on arrival but developed symptoms days later and was admitted to a private hospital in the Federal Capital Territory, where she received care for several days before laboratory confirmation of Ebola virus disease on 20 October 2026. The infection has been identified as the Bundibugyo strain.

Authorities have identified 44 contacts, including healthcare workers, patients, caregivers and travel contacts. High-risk contacts have been placed in quarantine, while others remain under monitoring. The government has intensified contact tracing, surveillance and infection-prevention measures, and has stated there is currently no evidence of community transmission.

Pate emphasised that the priority remains containing the single confirmed case and preventing any wider outbreak. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has activated its incident management system in collaboration with the FCT Health Services Secretariat and international partners, including the World Health Organization.

Country of birth, date she arrived in Abuja and other key details emerge as health authorities contain Nigeria’s first case in over a decade

Nigeria’s first confirmed Ebola case since the 2014 West African outbreak involves a 42-year-old woman originally from Uganda who is resident in Abuja and is the wife of a diplomat. She arrived in the Nigerian capital on 3 October 2026 after spending about two and a half weeks in Kampala on holiday, according to Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) Director-General Dr Jean Kaseya and Nigeria’s Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate.

Her return journey included a two-hour stopover in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, before landing in Abuja. She had not travelled outside the Federal Capital Territory since her arrival. Symptoms began on 6 October (or 7 October in some accounts). She initially sought care at a private hospital in Abuja around 11 October, believing she had malaria. When her condition did not improve, public health authorities were alerted on 19 October. Laboratory confirmation of Ebola (Bundibugyo strain) came on 20 October after three molecular tests.

The patient is currently in isolation and receiving medical care. Minister Pate has described her condition as stable and improving, though some reports have noted multi-organ failure. Authorities have identified 44 contacts, including healthcare workers, patients, caregivers and her husband (reported in some accounts as a Swiss national living with her in Abuja). None of the contacts had developed symptoms as of the latest updates, and they remain under monitoring.

There are differing accounts of her exact nationality and travel purpose. Africa CDC and Nigerian officials describe her as Ugandan-born and resident in Abuja who holidayed in Uganda. Uganda’s Ministry of Health has stated she is a Nigerian national who travelled to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo for business and only transited through Uganda, emphasising that Uganda has no active Ebola cases and that transit does not mean infection occurred there. The location of exposure remains under investigation.

Nigerian authorities have activated emergency response measures, intensified surveillance at entry points, and are working with the Africa CDC and other partners to prevent further spread. They have urged passengers who may have travelled on the same flights to cooperate with contact tracing. The Bundibugyo strain currently circulating has no approved vaccine or specific treatment.

This is Nigeria’s first imported Ebola case in more than a decade and the first linked to the ongoing East and Central African outbreak that began earlier in 2026. Health officials stress that the case is considered contained at this stage, drawing on lessons from the successful 2014 response.

Further updates will be provided as contact tracing and investigations continue.

The Federal Government has urged Nigerians not to panic over the country’s first confirmed Ebola case in more than a decade, stressing that authorities have the capacity to contain the imported infection.

Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare Muhammad Ali Pate made the call on Wednesday after meeting Chief of Staff to the President Femi Gbajabiamila at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

Pate confirmed that a woman who arrived in Nigeria on an international flight from Uganda tested positive for Ebola after seeking treatment at a private hospital in the Federal Capital Territory. The patient is in isolation and receiving care. Health officials have identified 44 contacts and are conducting intensive contact tracing.

“We have found this one case. We are doing contact tracing, and we are putting containment measures to ensure that it doesn’t go into our population,” Pate said. “Federal government has competent authorities to be able to deal with this. We have done it in 2014, and we have good public health institutions. Nigerians should be reassured.”

He urged the public to remain vigilant but avoid hysteria or panic, respect information from trusted sources, and refrain from spreading misinformation. “It’s one case. It’s an imported case, and we are containing it,” he added. “If the situation changes, we’ll come out and inform Nigerians.”

The Presidential Task Force on Ebola Preparedness, chaired by Gbajabiamila, also met in an emergency session and assured citizens that response systems, including those of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), are fully activated. Officials credited early detection protocols and noted collaboration with the World Health Organization and Africa CDC.

The case involves Bundibugyo Ebola virus and marks Nigeria’s first detection since the 2014 West African outbreak. Authorities continue to monitor contacts, strengthen infection prevention at the treating facility, and call on healthcare workers nationwide to maintain a high index of suspicion.