Ebola: Nigeria, Kenya Patients May Have Crossed Paths in Uganda

By Ibrahim Kegbegbe

FCT ABUJA -October 23, 2026

Health officials are investigating the possibility that Ebola patients detected in Nigeria and Kenya may have crossed paths at an airport in Uganda, amid growing concerns over the spread of the virus across Africa.

The development comes as the World Health Organisation (WHO) warns that the outbreak of Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease, which began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has become increasingly complex following cases reported in multiple African countries.

Nigeria confirmed its first imported case of the disease in more than a decade on October 20, involving a woman who travelled from Uganda to Abuja. The patient is receiving medical care in isolation.

According to health authorities, the woman developed symptoms on October 7 and sought medical attention in Abuja on October 11. Laboratory tests subsequently confirmed the infection.

Officials have identified 44 contacts linked to the Nigerian case, while contact tracing, monitoring and other containment measures have been intensified to prevent further transmission.

Investigations are also focusing on the possibility that the Nigerian patient and Kenya’s first confirmed patient may have been at Entebbe International Airport in Uganda on October 3. However, authorities have yet to establish whether the two cases are directly connected.

Kenya has reported nine confirmed cases, including one death, while the outbreak continues to affect several provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where thousands of infections and deaths have been recorded.

Nigeria’s Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, has urged citizens to remain calm, saying the government has no evidence that the infection has spread into the wider community. High-risk contacts have been quarantined as authorities continue to monitor the situation.

The Merit Newspaper reports that the WHO and other public health agencies are working with affected countries to strengthen surveillance, contact tracing, laboratory testing and infection prevention measures as efforts continue to contain the outbreak.