The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has announced that monitoring of 62 contacts linked to the country's confirmed imported Ebola case is expected to end on November 13, 2026.
The agency disclosed this in its latest Ebola Disease Situation Report obtained by Channels Television on Monday, stating that the contacts are expected to complete their mandatory follow-up at different dates between October 31 and November 13.
Nigeria confirmed its first Ebola case in the ongoing outbreak on October 20, 2026, after laboratory tests detected the Bundibugyo virus in a woman who arrived in the country from Uganda.
According to the NCDC, 62 contacts had been identified in connection with the confirmed case, with November 13 marking the latest expected date for the completion of their monitoring.
Although the agency did not provide individual completion dates for the contacts, it confirmed that contact tracing and surveillance activities were still ongoing.
The report stated that additional contact tracers had been identified and trained to strengthen surveillance, while plans were underway to assess more contacts for possible evacuation to quarantine facilities.
The agency also said it would sustain monitoring of individuals already in quarantine and continue engaging relevant stakeholders to strengthen coordination, resource mobilisation and accountability in the national response.
On laboratory investigations, the NCDC disclosed that 18 samples had been tested since the outbreak was confirmed, with one returning positive and 17 testing negative.
The positive result was from the index patient, while the negative samples comprised 15 collected from her contacts and two from suspected cases.
It further confirmed that phylogenetic sequencing had been completed by the NCDC National Reference Laboratory in collaboration with the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID).
To improve surveillance and case identification, the agency said it had reviewed and expanded its contact identification strategy and updated Ebola disease case definitions.
It also listed plans to strengthen contact tracing guidelines, self-quarantine procedures, self-care kits and Ebola call protocols, alongside the development of an Ebola disease dashboard on the Surveillance Outbreak Response Management and Analysis System (SORMAS).
The NCDC said the National Incident Management System had been activated under the leadership of the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, while an Incident Action Plan had been finalised to guide response activities.
It added that standard operating procedures for sample reception, molecular detection and genomic sequencing had been validated.
The agency also disclosed plans to sustain uninterrupted Ebola testing at the National Reference Laboratory and expand diagnostic capacity to Lagos, while ensuring adequate laboratory reagents and other essential commodities across the national network.
On treatment preparedness, the NCDC said it had conducted an assessment of isolation facilities and supervised the medical evacuation of the index patient, with appropriate measures taken to protect healthcare workers.
It further revealed that the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital had been engaged and assessed for its readiness to serve as an isolation and treatment centre.
According to the report, the hospital's needs assessment and optimisation had been completed, while the FCT team had been engaged to strengthen clinical care and psychosocial support for contacts in quarantine.
The agency also confirmed that a dedicated ambulance had been secured and placed on standby for safe patient referrals.
As part of infection prevention and control measures, the NCDC said needs assessments had been conducted across states and health facilities, while healthcare workers were receiving sensitisation on appropriate safety procedures.
It added that the facility managing the index patient had been engaged on compliance with standard and transmission-based infection prevention protocols.
Other interventions included refresher training for environmental health officers and terminal cleaning of the index patient's residence.
The agency also planned to introduce an infection prevention and control ring strategy across designated concentric zones to strengthen screening and isolation measures, while assessing additional isolation capacity at Karu General Hospital in the Federal Capital Territory.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that the index patient developed symptoms on October 7, four days after arriving in Nigeria, and sought medical attention at a private health facility in Abuja on October 11.
Nigeria became the fifth country to report the virus since the outbreak was declared in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on May 15, 2026, following laboratory confirmation of the case on October 20.
The index patient was subsequently evacuated to Switzerland on October 26 for further medical treatment, alongside her husband, who was identified as a close contact.
The NCDC said it would continue strengthening surveillance, laboratory capacity, infection prevention and emergency preparedness as the country works to contain the outbreak and prevent further transmission.
