WHO says Nigeria has no Ebola cases after patient's evacuation to Switzerland, but not yet declared Ebola-free

Compiled from reports by Nairametrics, Premium Times and TVC News. See the original articles linked below.

This article reports news and is not medical advice.

Nigeria currently has no Ebola cases after its first confirmed patient and her husband were medically evacuated to Switzerland, according to a statement by the World Health Organization's Regional Director for Africa, Mohamed Janabi. Nairametrics and Premium Times both reported that Janabi made the announcement on X on Monday, 26 October 2026.

Nairametrics reported that both the woman and her husband hold Swiss citizenship. Premium Times wrote that she is the wife of a Swiss diplomat based in Abuja, and that she arrived in Nigeria from Uganda on 3 October, developed symptoms a few days later and tested positive for the Bundibugyo strain of the virus on 20 October. Premium Times described the case as Nigeria's first confirmed Ebola case in more than a decade. Nairametrics gave the patient's age as 42 and said the Nigerian authorities confirmed the case on 20 October.

Condition and follow-up

Premium Times reported that Health Minister Muhammad Pate described the patient as much improved and stable, and that her husband had shown no symptoms. According to Premium Times, Switzerland will now take over her care and the follow-up of her husband. Nairametrics reported that Janabi credited Nigerian health workers with stabilising her through the most severe stage of the illness.

Both Nairametrics and Premium Times said Nigeria will continue to monitor 52 contacts. Premium Times said these include health workers and domestic staff. The husband is counted as the 53rd contact and will be followed by Swiss authorities, Nairametrics reported. Nairametrics added that Janabi stressed the evacuation does not end the public health response.

Not declared Ebola-free

TVC News reported that the WHO later clarified that Nigeria has not been declared Ebola-free, and that it asked media organisations to correct headlines that had read Janabi's statement as confirmation that the country was free of the disease. TVC News quoted the WHO as saying it has not declared Nigeria Ebola-free.

According to TVC News, the International Health Regulations require a 42-day countdown, followed by a period of heightened surveillance, before a country can be declared Ebola-free. TVC News wrote that in this case the countdown begins from the evacuation. The outlet said that having no confirmed cases does not mean the outbreak is officially over.

Wider outbreak

Nairametrics reported that genomic sequencing linked the strain found in Nigeria to Kenya's first confirmed case, and that the source of the patient's infection remains unclear. It wrote that the outbreak began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and has spread to Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria, that Uganda was declared Ebola-free in August 2026, and that Kenya has reported nine confirmed infections. Premium Times reported that the Democratic Republic of the Congo had recorded 9,704 confirmed cases and 4,687 deaths as of 20 October, and that Kenya's nine cases included two deaths.

Nairametrics and Premium Times each said Janabi called for continued vigilance as Nigeria's monitoring of the 52 contacts goes on.

Sources

This article was compiled with AI assistance from the reports listed above and reviewed by GMA before publishing.