Nigeria confirmed on Tuesday, 20 October, its first Ebola case since 2014, involving a Ugandan woman resident in Abuja. The patient is in isolation and receiving treatment, while authorities are monitoring 44 people who came into contact with her and are investigating the source of the infection.

According to Reuters, the woman returned to the Nigerian capital on a flight from Uganda, with a stopover in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Uganda’s Ministry of Health noted, however, that the patient had also travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where a large-scale outbreak is ongoing.

Odianosen Ehiakhamen, an official at Nigeria’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, told television station Arise TV that the woman began showing symptoms on 7 October and sought treatment at a private hospital in Abuja four days later, presenting with a condition resembling malaria.

An Ebola test was conducted on 19 October and a positive result confirmed the following day. The World Health Organization (WHO) identified the causative agent as the Bundibugyo virus, which is responsible for the ongoing outbreak in the DRC.

Among the identified contacts are primarily healthcare workers, as well as the patient’s husband, who holds Swiss nationality. Authorities are also working to locate passengers who travelled on the same flights as the woman, although there is no indication that she was symptomatic during the journeys.

Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Muhammad Ali Pate, told public broadcaster NTA that the patient is receiving medical care. He also recalled that the country successfully contained the 2014 outbreak and has surveillance and response systems in place to address the new case.

Uganda Rejects Automatic Link to Origin of Infection

Uganda’s Ministry of Health stressed that the patient’s transit through the country does not allow the conclusion that the infection occurred on Ugandan soil, and stated that there are no confirmed active cases.

The WHO said investigations are continuing to determine the probable origin of the infection, reconstruct the woman’s movements, and identify the circumstances under which she may have been exposed to the virus. Infection prevention and control measures have also been reinforced at the private facility where she received initial treatment.

The outbreak in the DRC was declared on 15 May, though it may have begun months earlier. The country has recorded more than nine thousand cases and four thousand deaths, making it one of the largest Ebola outbreaks ever documented.

Uganda reported 20 cases in May and June, the majority of them imported from the DRC. The government declared the end of its outbreak on 28 July, with the WHO confirming that assessment in August following an additional monitoring period.

In Kenya, nine cases were confirmed in October, all linked to an individual who had travelled from the DRC. In response to the regional trajectory, the WHO has called for strengthened surveillance, contact tracing, and health service preparedness.