The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has identified two suspected cases of Ebola disease in Nigeria’s North-East region, with both individuals placed in isolation as investigations continue.
The agency announced the development in a statement published on its official X account on Saturday, noting that efforts were underway to identify and document individuals who may have had contact with the suspected cases.
According to the NCDC, laboratory tests are also being conducted to establish whether the individuals have contracted the disease.
The agency, however, cautioned against treating the cases as confirmed infections, stressing that their status would only be determined after the laboratory results become available.
It urged Nigerians to maintain proper hand hygiene, observe improved sanitation practices and comply with public health advisories, assuring that further updates would be communicated as verified information emerges.
The latest development comes days after the NCDC disclosed that it had identified an additional contact, an e-hailing driver, linked to Nigeria’s confirmed Ebola case, bringing the number of primary contacts under monitoring to 54.
The Director-General of the agency, Dr Jide Idris, had disclosed during an interview with Channels Television on October 26 that efforts were still ongoing to trace secondary contacts associated with the index case.
He warned that the country could not consider itself safe until all contacts had been identified and monitored, adding that the discharge or transfer of the index patient did not eliminate the risk of further transmission.
The Federal Government announced Nigeria’s first confirmed case of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola on October 20, 2026, in Abuja.
The index patient was identified as a woman who had returned to Nigeria from a trip to Uganda on October 7 with symptoms of the disease. However, Ugandan authorities subsequently denied reports of an Ebola outbreak in the East African country.
The patient was later evacuated to Switzerland alongside her husband for further medical care.
