Nigeria's Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare Muhammad Ali Pate said organizers need not change event plans after an Ebola case was confirmed in the capital, barring a shift in public-health conditions.
On Thursday, Oct. 22, Pate said officials could reconsider if the situation changed. He said any later restrictions would be based on public-health evidence and expert advice, but gave no date for a review.
The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare said laboratory tests confirmed one case in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Tuesday, Oct. 20. The ministry said the woman had arrived on an international flight from Uganda and was receiving care in isolation.
The World Health Organization (WHO) dates the start of her symptoms to Oct. 7, four days after her arrival in Nigeria. She sought care at a private facility in Abuja on Oct. 11, and testing confirmed Bundibugyo virus on Oct. 20. WHO said the likely source of infection was still under investigation.
The ministry's Oct. 20 update listed 44 close contacts for monitoring. The Associated Press reported Thursday that an Africa CDC official said additional contacts had been identified, without providing a revised total. PUNCH reported that Pate said high-risk contacts had been quarantined at a facility, while other contacts were isolated under public-health guidance.
PUNCH also reported Pate saying laboratory results had improved and recovery was possible. The Guardian, citing an NCDC official on Wednesday, Oct. 21, reported that the patient's condition had deteriorated to multiple-organ failure; the public accounts did not explain the differing updates.
WHO counted Nigeria as the fifth country to detect Bundibugyo virus since the Democratic Republic of the Congo declared an outbreak on May 15, 2026. Premium Times reported Wednesday that Pate cited Nigeria's response to Ebola in 2014 as a precedent for the current effort.
BusinessDay reported that further laboratory tests, including genomic sequencing, were planned, but gave no timetable for the work.
