Nigeria reports first Ebola case in over a decade

Nigeria has officially confirmed its first Ebola case in over a decade, identifying the patient as a woman from Uganda who arrived in the capital, Abuja, on October 5 via an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa. According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, the woman began experiencing symptoms on October 7 and sought treatment at a private clinic on October 11 for malaria-like symptoms before testing positive for the virus on October 19.

Health authorities have placed all public and private medical facilities on high alert and are currently tracking 44 individuals who had close contact with the patient, including her husband and several healthcare workers. Officials are also attempting to trace fellow passengers from the flight. While Uganda’s health ministry states it currently has no active cases, the patient reportedly traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo prior to arriving in Nigeria.

The broader outbreak, which began in the Democratic Republic of Congo in May, has now spread to three African regions, resulting in over 9,000 cases and 4,646 deaths. Experts warn that the absence of approved vaccines or treatments, combined with potential funding gaps and misinformation, poses a significant regional threat, prompting calls for urgent, high-level political intervention.