Nigeria confirms Ebola case as outbreak continues to spread

Nigeria has recorded its first case of Ebola during the current outbreak, the country's health ministry has said - as the virus continues to spread internationally. 

The ministry said a woman had been diagnosed with the virus in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, after travelling from Uganda, which recorded a number of cases earlier this year but has since declared itself free of the virus.

Muhammad Pate, Nigeria's health minister, said the patient began showing symptoms on 7 October before being admitted to hospital where she tested positive for Ebola.

It remains unclear when she arrived in Nigeria, but Mr Pate said authorities had started tracing 44 people identified as contacts.

Uganda's health ministry said the patient is a Nigerian woman who had only transited through Uganda while on a business trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the outbreak was first announced in May.

It insisted that "travel through Uganda does not establish that infection occurred here", adding that "the location of exposure remains under investigation".

The Nigerian authorities have not disclosed the patient's nationality.

'An extremely serious threat'

Nigeria is the latest country to report an Ebola case as the latest outbreak continues to spread across Africa, with Kenya recording nine infections since confirming its first case earlier this month.

More than 4,000 Ebola deaths have been recorded in the DRC since the start of the outbreak, caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, which has no known treatment or vaccine.

It is the fastest-spreading Ebola outbreak in history and is on course to become the deadliest on record.

Dr Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a social media post that "we are facing an extremely serious threat", with a fatality rate of nearly 50% of cases.

"This Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak has already become the most geographically extensive in history, affecting several countries spread across three regions of Africa," Dr Kaseya said.

More from Sky News:
Sky News gains rare access to Russian occupied Oleshky
Swimmer killed in shark attack in South Africa

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control said earlier this month it was stepping up surveillance following the detection of the virus in Kenya and strengthening the country's preparedness for a potential outbreak.

The agency said: "These efforts have focused on early detection, isolation and referral, laboratory diagnosis, infection prevention and control, contact tracing, risk communication and protection of health care workers."

Nigeria, which was impacted by a previous Ebola outbreak that began in 2014, established an Ebola taskforce in June in response to the latest outbreak.

Femi Gbajabiamila, chief of staff to President Bola Tinubu, said the country does not want "a repeat of what happened during the last outbreak when a carrier entered the country, and everyone was scrambling to respond".

Mr Gbajabiamila added: "We have covered a lot of ground and established structures to address any potential threat."

(c) Sky News 2026: Nigeria confirms Ebola case as outbreak continues to spread