Nigeria's Ebola patient is flown out as 53 contacts are watched
The NCDC will pay quarantined contacts ₦100,000 a week, and has widened its case definition so suspected cases are caught early.
Abuja — Nigeria's first confirmed Ebola patient since 2014 was flown out of the country early on Monday 26 October on a medical evacuation aircraft from the private jet wing of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, ARISE News reported. Her destination has not been announced.
The patient is a 42-year-old Ugandan-born woman living in Abuja, described as the wife of a Swiss diplomat. She returned from a holiday in Kampala on 3 October, fell ill three days later, and Nigeria confirmed the case on 20 October.
The contacts
At a briefing in Abuja on Sunday, NCDC Director-General Jide Idris said 53 primary contacts have been identified:
- 44 from the health facility where she was treated
- 9 others: her husband, driver and chef, three health workers at another clinic and three staff who collected samples
They are monitored for 21 days after their last possible exposure, some in designated facilities and some at home. Being a contact, Idris stressed, does not mean a person has Ebola.
₦100,000 a week
The NCDC approved a ₦100,000 weekly allowance for each quarantined contact, after some said isolation kept them from their work and families. It already covers their accommodation and food.
What to look out for
Under a revised case definition, anyone with a persistent fever that does not respond to treatment for common causes, or with warning signs such as unexplained bleeding or bloody diarrhoea, should seek care promptly. Health workers have been told to take precautions without waiting for laboratory confirmation. Africa CDC is supplying testing reagents.
Sources: Premium Times, 26 October 2026; Premium Times, 25 October 2026.
