Eight years after Nigeria was declared Ebola-free to global applause, the deadly virus is back on our soil – and this time, it landed at a private hospital in Abuja.

What happened?

Nigeria’s Health Minister, Muhammad Ali Pate, confirmed the country’s first Ebola case of Africa’s latest outbreak.

The patient is a woman who had just flown in from Uganda on an international flight to Abuja. She was admitted to a private hospital in the capital where she was treated for several days before tests came back positive for Ebola Virus Disease.

She is now in isolation and receiving care, the minister said.

Immediately, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has kicked off contact tracing. So far, 44 close contacts have been identified – including healthcare workers, fellow patients, caregivers and fellow travellers.

For context, the West Africa outbreak of 2014-2016 killed over 11,300 people. Nigeria recorded 20 cases and 8 deaths then, but won global praise for containing it in just 93 days after Liberian-American Patrick Sawyer brought the virus into Lagos.

We have done it before. The question is, can we do it again?

Why does this one case matter so much?

Ebola is not like COVID. You don’t catch it from passing someone in the market. It spreads through direct contact with the blood, body fluids or secretions of a sick person, or with contaminated surfaces.

That is why that one woman’s journey matters. It’s not just about her – it’s about the nurse who took her temperature, the patient in the next bed, the taxi driver from the airport, the immigration officer who stamped her passport. Those 44 contacts are 44 families holding their breath right now.

And she was in a private hospital for several days before diagnosis. That window is what epidemiologists worry about most.

What is Ebola and what are the symptoms?

Ebola Virus Disease is a rare but severe viral haemorrhagic fever first discovered in 1976 near the Ebola River in what is now the DRC.

How it spreads: Human-to-human transmission via broken skin or mucous membranes, through blood, vomit, faeces, sweat, breast milk, and semen.

Symptoms to watch for (2-21 days after exposure): Sudden fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat, followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash and, in severe cases, internal and external bleeding.

Treatment: There is no licensed cure, but two monoclonal antibody treatments – mAb114 and REGN-EB3 – have significantly improved survival if given early, alongside aggressive supportive care (rehydration and symptom management). A vaccine, Ervebo, is now used in ring vaccination strategies in outbreak countries.

What next?

The Federal Government says isolation, contact tracing and decontamination are underway.

Here’s what you should do:

1. Don’t panic but stay alert. If you were on a flight from Uganda to Abuja in the last 21 days or visited any hospital in Abuja with a fever, call NCDC toll-free on 6232 immediately.

2. Practise the basics: Regular handwashing with soap, avoid contact with anyone showing symptoms, and avoid bushmeat handling.

3. For health workers: Re-activatea high index of suspicion and IPC protocols. History of travel is crucial.

4. Watch for updates: The NCDC is expected to brief the press in the coming days and release the woman’s travel history. Kenya and Uganda have already tightened border screening.

Why does this matter? Because Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation, with one of the world’s busiest aviation hubs. What happens in Abuja in the next 21 days will determine whether this remains an imported case or becomes another national emergency.

We will keep you posted as this develops on cbinewstv.com.

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