The Nigerian Society for Microbiology, NSM, has issued an advisory following the confirmation of a single case of Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, urging Nigerians to remain calm and vigilant.
The advisory, contained in a press statement signed by the President of the NSM, Prof. S.A. Ado, on October 22, 2026, followed confirmation of the case by the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, NCDC.
According to the NSM, the patient is a 42-year-old wife of a Swiss diplomat who returned to Abuja on October 3, 2026, after a stay in Kampala, Uganda, and developed symptoms three days later.
The Society said laboratory confirmation, conducted through three levels of molecular testing, identified the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus.
The NSM disclosed that 44 close contacts had been identified and placed under active public health monitoring, while two additional domestic staff members had also been restricted, bringing the total number of people subject to a 21-day no-fly order to 46. The patient is currently in isolation and receiving medical care.
The NSM explained that the Bundibugyo ebolavirus is a recognised species within the genus Ebolavirus, family Filoviridae, which also includes the Zaire, Sudan, Reston and Tai Forest ebolaviruses.
It noted that the strain was first identified during an outbreak in Bundibugyo District, Uganda, in 2007, and remains relatively rare. The strain currently has no approved vaccine or specific therapeutic agent, although clinical trials are underway.
The Society, however, emphasised that the situation remains manageable, citing Nigeria’s public health infrastructure, laboratory capacity and experience from the successful containment of the 2014 Ebola importation.
On transmission, the NSM stated that the Ebola virus spreads through direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of a symptomatic infected person or with contaminated materials such as medical equipment.
It stressed that a person with Ebola cannot spread the virus before symptoms appear and that the virus is not airborne during natural outbreaks.
According to the NSM, the incubation period ranges from 2 to 21 days, with symptoms typically beginning abruptly and including fever, severe weakness, headache, muscle pain, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhoea and, in some cases, internal and external bleeding.
The NSM said it stands in full support of the NCDC, the Federal Ministry of Health, the FCT Health Services Secretariat and all frontline responders, adding that its members across the country were prepared to provide technical support in laboratory diagnosis, biosafety and infection prevention and control.
The Society called on all healthcare facilities, both public and private, to maintain a high index of suspicion and to immediately isolate and report any suspected case.
It urged Nigerians to practise regular hand hygiene, avoid direct contact with the bodily fluids of suspected cases, report any possible exposure immediately, cooperate fully with contact tracers and rely only on verified information from the NCDC and the Federal Ministry of Health.
The NSM expressed confidence that, with current measures in place and collective public cooperation, the single imported case would be successfully contained.
