Nigeria has confirmed a case of Ebola in a female patient who travelled from Uganda in East Africa to Abuja, the capital. Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate said laboratory tests had confirmed the diagnosis. The outbreak has put medical teams across Africa on high alert since May.
Health sources said the woman is not Nigerian and is the wife of a diplomat. She is in isolation at a hospital in Abuja, where she is receiving medical care. According to the World Health Organization, she developed symptoms on Wednesday 7 October, four days after arriving in the country.
Contact tracing begins in Abuja
Health authorities have started contact tracing to prevent further spread of the virus. So far, 44 close contacts of the woman have been identified. Nigeria is the first West African state to report a case linked to the current Ebola crisis in East Africa.
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The country has experience with the disease. Nigeria successfully stopped an earlier outbreak in 2014, which caused at least eight deaths. Officials are now relying on that experience as they follow the latest case.
Pate told the national broadcaster Nigerian Television Authority on Tuesday evening that the woman had shown no symptoms when she arrived. He said she had not confirmed any travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo. “We presume that it was likely picked in Uganda,” he said.
Her travel documents will be used to trace the people she may have contacted. Authorities have asked the public to cooperate with health officials carrying out the tracing.
Uganda says patient passed through without symptoms
Uganda’s Ministry of Health said preliminary information indicated that the patient had passed through Uganda without symptoms. In a statement on X, Uganda’s Director General of Health Services, Charles Olaro, said the woman had travelled to eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo for business before passing through Uganda in early October.
Olaro said her symptoms only developed after she arrived in Nigeria. He added that the location of exposure remained under investigation. He also said Nigeria had yet to provide detailed information on her travel itinerary and clinical history, which would guide further investigations and any necessary contact tracing.
Uganda’s ministry also stressed that there are currently no confirmed active Ebola cases in the country. It urged the public to remain calm and vigilant, and to practise regular handwashing and sanitising.
The woman’s exact travel history, which is key to tracing contacts, still appears to be unclear. The incubation period for Ebola ranges from two to 21 days, meaning people who have been exposed may not become ill for several weeks.
Wider outbreak prompts stricter surveillance in Nigeria
The disease is rare but deadly, and it is caused by a virus. As it progresses, vomiting and diarrhoea develop, and it can lead to organ failure. Some patients develop internal and external bleeding, but not all do. It spreads through contact with infected bodily fluids such as blood or vomit.
The wider outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo began in May. According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, it has claimed at least 4,600 lives, with more than 9,500 cases recorded. The strain involved is the Bundibugyo species, which is relatively rare and has no approved vaccine or treatment, although trials are under way.
The disease has also spread to Kenya, which has reported at least nine infections. On Monday, the United States advised its citizens to reconsider travel to Kenya because of health risks and raised its travel advisory level for the country.
Since the outbreak began, Nigeria has stepped up disease surveillance. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has issued public health advice to travellers. It says travellers from countries with active or relevant Ebola transmission may be required to complete a health declaration form, while those arriving from other countries are currently exempt. The agency has also urged travellers to seek medical attention promptly if they develop symptoms.
