The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has launched investigations into two suspected Ebola cases in Nigeria’s North-East, prompting isolation measures and contact-tracing efforts.
The agency announced the development on Saturday, October 31, 2026, through its official communication channels, explaining that health officials had isolated both individuals while laboratory investigations continued.
The NCDC also commenced contact identification and listing to establish whether other people might have experienced exposure to the suspected infections.
However, the agency cautioned Nigerians against treating the development as confirmation of another Ebola outbreak, stressing that only laboratory findings could establish whether either individual had contracted the disease.
In a subsequent update on Sunday, November 1, NCDC Director-General, Dr Jide Idris, disclosed that laboratory tests on samples collected from the two individuals in Yola, Adamawa State, returned negative results after two rounds of testing.
Idris explained that the Adamawa State Public Health Emergency Operations Centre received the initial report on October 30 after medical personnel identified two individuals with symptoms that required further investigation.
He commended the Adamawa State Commissioner for Health and the response team for their prompt action, adding that the agency would continue to support the state government in its public health response.
The NCDC also urged Nigerians to avoid spreading unverified information and seek medical attention if they experience symptoms such as fever, severe weakness, headache, vomiting, diarrhoea or unexplained bleeding, particularly after possible exposure.
The development comes amid heightened surveillance following Nigeria’s first confirmed imported case of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola on October 20, 2026. The index patient, a woman who travelled from Uganda, received treatment in Abuja before authorities evacuated her to Switzerland alongside her husband on October 26.
The NCDC maintains that the imported case remains Nigeria’s only laboratory-confirmed Ebola infection.
By Musekir Faisat Omolara
