By Julian Osamoto
The Federal Government says it is strengthening Ebola surveillance, contact tracing and emergency response measures following confirmation of an imported case in the Federal Capital Territory, on Tuesday October20, 2026.
The Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Ebola Preparedness and Emerging Public Health Threats, Femi Gbajabiamila, disclosed this after an emergency meeting at the State House on Wednesday.
Gbajabiamila said the task force, inaugurated in June, had been working to strengthen preparedness, adding that existing surveillance protocols helped authorities identify the infected passenger.
He said the government would reinforce compliance with established health protocols and called on Nigerians to cooperate with public health officials without spreading panic.
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, said contact tracing was ongoing and that identified contacts were being isolated.
Pate said the Federal Government, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organisation and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention had activated incident management systems to coordinate the response.
He added that hospitals were preparing to manage potential cases, while state governments were activating their response plans.
The minister urged the public to rely on verified health information and avoid spreading misinformation that could undermine containment efforts.
Nigeria confirmed an imported case of Bundibugyo Ebola in the FCT on Tuesday. The patient, a woman who had recently travelled to Uganda, tested positive for the virus, and authorities identified 44 contacts for monitoring.
Uganda’s Ministry of Health has disputed reports of an Ebola outbreak in the country. The source of the patient’s infection remains under investigation, and travel through Uganda alone does not establish where the infection was acquired.
