Race to Uncover Travel Path of Nigeria’s First Ebola Patient
Ebola 21/10/2026 •
A health worker in protective gear responds to Ebola.

Nigeria’s lone Ebola patient was only diagnosed almost two weeks after showing symptoms – and is reported to have travelled to the capital, Abuja, from Uganda via Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.

She entered Nigeria on 3 October, started showing symptoms on 7 October and was admitted to hospital two days later – but was only diagnosed on Tuesday (20 October), according to a statement from the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Africa region.

The patient is said to be the wife of a Ugandan diplomat. Uganda was declared Ebola-free in August after treating 20 people who had contracted the Bundibugyo virus imported from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

“Investigations are ongoing to establish the likely source of her infection and reconstruct her full travel and exposure history,” said the WHO, adding that Nigeria’s Health Ministry had identified 44 contacts.

“[These contacts] are being monitored as efforts are intensified to find other people who may have been exposed. Infection prevention and control measures are being ramped up in the private health facility where the patient sought care,” the WHO added.

Kenya’s nine cases were all quarantined contacts of the first case, who died after travelling across the DRC, according to the country’s Health Ministry. Three are health workers, one is a hospital cleaner, and four are relatives of the patient. 

The Kenyan government says it has traced 128 of the 130 identified contacts (98.5%)  of the deceased, and they are all in quarantine.

The case fatality rate in the DRC is over 48%, with most cases in Ituri province. On Sunday, authorities in North Kivu introduced a week-long ban on people travelling from Ituri in a bid to slow transmission.

North Kivu’s authorities have also suspended large sporting activities, concerts, parades and nightclubs. They have limited passenger numbers for vehicles and introduced mandatory vehicle disinfection, hand washing and temperature screening at checkpoints.

In light of the Nigeria case, the WHO Africa region has urged countries to “maintain strong disease surveillance and rapid alert investigation, ensure laboratories can safely test suspected cases, keep rapid response and clinical teams ready for immediate activation, [and] reinforce infection prevention and control in both public and private health facilities.”

African health ministers will meet next week to discuss Ebola as Nigeria reported its first case, Kenya’s outbreak has infected nine people, and the DRC reported 9,455 cases.

The meeting was announced on Wednesday by the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which described Ebola as an “escalating threat to health security across the continent”.

Image Credits: Belen B Massieu/Shutterstock.com, Africa CDC .

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