NCDC identifies two suspected Ebola cases and 53 primary contacts

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has identified two additional suspected cases of Ebola virus disease and 53 primary contacts. Authorities are intensifying efforts to contain the infection in Nigeria following an earlier imported case.

The Director-General of the NCDC, Dr Jide Idris, disclosed this during a press briefing in Abuja on Sunday, October 25, 2026. This comes five days after the Federal Government confirmed an Ebola infection in a woman who recently arrived in Nigeria from Uganda. The NCDC noted that the identification of two additional suspected cases does not mean they have tested positive, because laboratory confirmation is required to establish infection status.

Contact Tracing and Background

The 53 primary contacts include healthcare workers, the confirmed patient's domestic staff and spouse, and health personnel involved in collecting samples from the patient. This latest figure represents an increase from the 44 contacts initially identified when the Federal Government announced the imported case on October 20. Nigeria's Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, confirmed that the infected woman was receiving treatment in isolation while health authorities strengthened surveillance and infection prevention measures.

Nigeria confirmed its imported case of Bundibugyo Ebola virus disease on October 20 after laboratory tests on the woman who travelled from Uganda. According to the World Health Organisation, the patient developed symptoms on October 7, four days after arriving in Nigeria, and sought treatment at a private health facility in Abuja on October 11. Subsequent genomic analysis showed that the virus was closely related to the strain detected in Kenya's index case, although Nigerian authorities stated there was no confirmed direct epidemiological link between the two patients. These infections emerged amid a wider Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with cases also reported in Kenya.