The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) on Monday disclosed that it had identified an additional contact linked to the country’s confirmed Ebola case, bringing the number of primary contacts under surveillance to 54.
The Director-General of the agency, Dr Jide Idris, disclosed this during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, identifying the newly traced contact as an e-hailing driver who transported the index patient to a hospital.
Idris explained that although one contact had been removed from the list following the index patient’s evacuation, a previously unidentified contact had been added after authorities obtained new information about the patient’s movements.
“So as it is now, we’ve had — yesterday it was 54, right? One has left. The index case has left, so we had 53.
“Today, we got one more suspected case contact, who actually was the Uber driver who actually drove her again before to the first hospital. That information we got later,” he said.
54 primary contacts under surveillance
The NCDC chief said many of the identified contacts were currently in quarantine in Abuja, while six others were self-isolating at home because they were considered to be at lower risk.
“So we still have 54 contacts, primary contacts. What we do is that we follow up with these people because a lot of them are in quarantine right now somewhere in Abuja, here, about 40-something of them,” Idris said.
He added that the six contacts isolating at home were being closely monitored, with health officials checking their temperatures twice daily and assessing them for any changes in their clinical condition.
According to him, some contacts had developed symptoms that warranted further testing, but three people tested again on Monday returned negative results.
‘We are not out of the woods yet’
Idris cautioned that Nigeria could not yet consider itself clear of the outbreak, stressing that health authorities were still working to identify secondary contacts and ensure that all exposed individuals were being monitored.
“So we are not out of the woods yet until we are sure that we have all the contacts, and they have been followed up. So we are still not out of the woods; because the index case is out doesn’t mean that we don’t have that,” he said.
He explained that contacts would be monitored for between two and 21 days, reflecting the virus’s incubation period, while secondary contacts would be identified as investigations progressed.
The NCDC director-general said Nigeria had no active confirmed case at the time of the interview, but emphasised that continued surveillance and testing were necessary before the country could be declared free of the outbreak.
He urged anyone experiencing symptoms or concerned about a potentially ill person to contact the nearest public health facility or call the NCDC’s toll-free hotline on 6232, which he said operates around the clock.
NCDC defends Nigeria’s Ebola response
Idris also rejected suggestions that the evacuation of the index patient to Switzerland reflected a lack of confidence in Nigeria’s healthcare system.
He said the country had experienced personnel with expertise in managing Ebola cases, including Nigerian health professionals who participated in the response to the 2014 outbreak.
“I don’t believe that because we have competent hands; in fact, just yesterday we brought in more people, Nigerians who actually participated in treating Ebola cases in 2014,” he said.
He added that Nigeria had a register of infectious disease specialists whose expertise could be deployed to different parts of the country if necessary.
Idris further clarified that the Swiss government arranged the air ambulance for the patient’s evacuation, which he said followed a diplomatic request rather than a decision reflecting Nigeria’s inability to provide care.
He noted that the patient’s clinical condition had improved.
Background
The Federal Government announced Nigeria’s first confirmed case of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola in Abuja on October 20, 2026.
The patient was identified as a woman who had recently travelled to Uganda and returned to Nigeria with symptoms on October 7. However, Ugandan authorities denied reports of an Ebola outbreak in the East African country.
On October 25, the NCDC announced that 53 contacts, including healthcare workers, had been identified in connection with the case.
On Monday, the Minister of Health confirmed that the index patient had been evacuated to Switzerland in a stable and conscious condition, with her clinical condition reportedly improved.
