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5h ago

Nigeria Confirms First Ebola Case Linked to DR Congo Outbreak

The detection highlights cross‑border spread of the rare Bundibugyo strain, prompting urgent contact tracing and continental coordination.

A healthcare worker speaks to a colleague at the Ebola treatment center in Beni, North Kivu province, Congo, Monday, Oct. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Sebastien Kitsa Musayi)
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Health workers prepare to transfer the body of Abineno Justine, a 38-year-old woman who died of the Ebola virus, to a coffin ahead of her burial in Bunia, Congo, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Dieudonne Dirole)
FILE - Cars drive past the National Assembly building in Abuja, Nigeria, on Nov. 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Chinedu Asadu, File)

Overview

  • Nigerian health authorities announced a confirmed Ebola infection on Oct. 20 in a woman diagnosed with the Bundibugyo strain after laboratory testing at the NCDC.
  • Officials have identified and begun monitoring 44 close contacts, including health workers and travel contacts, and the patient is isolated in a private Abuja hospital.
  • Preliminary travel history shows the woman visited eastern DRC for business and transited through Uganda before symptoms began, and investigations continue to establish where exposure occurred.
  • The outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has recorded roughly 9,500 confirmed cases and more than 4,600 deaths, and there is no approved vaccine or specific treatment for the Bundibugyo strain.
  • Regional bodies including Africa CDC and WHO are mobilizing technical support and have scheduled an Oct. 28 extraordinary meeting to strengthen cross‑border surveillance, contact tracing and infection control.