The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has said that monitoring of the 62 contacts identified following the confirmation of an imported Ebola case into Nigeria is expected to come to an end on November 13, 2026.
Disclosing this in its latest Ebola Disease Situation Report, the agencystated that the contacts were expected to complete monitoring between October 31 and November 13.
It stated that contact tracing and monitoring were ongoing, with more contact tracers mapped and trained to bolster surveillance.
The NCDC further stated that it planned to assess more contacts for possible evacuation to the quarantine facility and keep on monitoring those already in quarantine.
It noted that the scope and strategy for identifying contacts had been reviewed and expanded, while Ebola case definitions had also been updated to improve the identification and management of suspected infections.
The agency said to 18 samples had been tested since the case was confirmed, with one positive result and 17 negative results.
It clarified that the positive sample was from the index case, while the negative samples were made up of 15 collected from contacts of the confirmed patient and two from suspected cases.
The NCDC noted that laboratory confirmation was reported on October 20, 2026, while phylogenetic sequencing was completed by its National Reference Laboratory and the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID).
On case management, the agency stated that it had engaged the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital on its readiness to serve as an isolation and treatment centre.
It further said that a needs assessment and optimisation of the hospital had been completed, while the FCT team had been engaged on clinical care and psychosocial support for contacts in quarantine.
The NCDC further said that the National Incident Management System had been activated under the leadership of the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate.
The agency said the Incident Action Plan had been finalised, while a high-level meeting with partner agencies was held to strengthen coordination, resource mobilisation and accountability.
NCDC stated that it would continue coordinating response activities across relevant sectors, strengthen preparedness in high-risk states and maintain uninterrupted laboratory testing.
It also wants to expand testing capacity to Lagos and distribute additional laboratory reagents and supplies across the national laboratory network.
