The Federal Government has confirmed a case of Ebola disease in the Federal Capital Territory, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, announced on Tuesday, 20 October 2026.
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 laboratory testing confirmed the diagnosis on Tuesday. She is currently in isolation and receiving medical treatment.
Prof. Pate said the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention were working with the FCT Health Services Secretariat and other authorities “to contain the infection and prevent further spread.”
Contact tracing has begun, with 44 close contacts identified so far. Public health teams are tracking people who may have been exposed, including healthcare workers, patients, caregivers and fellow travellers. Surveillance has been stepped up and the hospital is receiving immediate support to strengthen infection prevention and control measures.
The minister directed all public and private health facilities nationwide to be on high alert, asking health workers to maintain a high index of suspicion, promptly identify and isolate suspected cases, observe strict infection control and report suspected cases immediately to public health authorities.
Ebola spreads through direct contact with the blood or other body fluids of a person who is sick with the disease or has died from it, or through contact with contaminated materials. A person infected with Ebola cannot transmit the virus before symptoms appear.
The ministry listed fever, severe weakness, headache, vomiting and diarrhoea as symptoms to watch for, particularly after possible exposure, and urged anyone who may have been exposed to report it immediately, even if they feel well. People who develop symptoms should avoid close contact with others and call public health authorities for guidance before going to a health facility.
“Remain calm but vigilant. There is no need for panic,” the statement said, while urging Nigerians to practise regular hand hygiene, cooperate with contact tracing teams — including airline passengers who may be contacted — and avoid rumour and stigma by sharing only verified information from official sources.
The confirmation falls on the twelfth anniversary of Nigeria’s last all-clear. On 20 October 2014, the World Health Organisation declared the country free of Ebola, 42 days — twice the incubation period — after its last confirmed case.
That outbreak began on 20 July 2014, when Patrick Sawyer, a Liberian-American lawyer, collapsed on arrival at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos and was taken to First Consultant Hospital in Obalende, where he died four days later.
The virus infected 20 people and killed eight, including Dr Ameyo Stella Adadevoh, the physician who diagnosed Sawyer and refused to discharge him despite diplomatic pressure — a decision widely credited with containing the outbreak at its source.
Nigeria’s response — an emergency operations centre, aggressive contact tracing, airport screening and a national public health emergency declared within days — was held up by the WHO as a “spectacular success story” while the epidemic overwhelmed Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
Officials pointed to that record as evidence of the country’s capacity to respond, but stressed that halting transmission depends on public cooperation.
“The Federal Government, FCT authorities and other partners are working together to protect healthcare workers, patients and the wider public,” Prof. Pate said. “Investigations are ongoing, and we will continue to provide accurate and timely information.”
The Presidential Taskforce on Ebola Virus Disease and the NCDC will continue to issue updates. The NCDC’s toll-free call centre, reachable on 6232, operates 24 hours a day for information or to report a suspected case.
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