Nigeria’s disease control authorities have reviewed the country’s Ebola readiness after Kenya confirmed an imported case of the Bundibugyo virus, a species of Ebola, raising fresh concerns about the risk of the disease reaching Nigerian soil through international travel. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) confirmed on Tuesday, 6 October 2026, that no Ebola case had been recorded in Nigeria as of that date, but warned that Kenya’s situation demonstrated the very real danger of “international importation” of the virus.
The warning came in a statement signed by NCDC Director-General Jide Idris, published via the agency’s official X account, @NCDCgov.
The Kenyan patient was a Kenyan citizen who had been living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where a large-scale Bundibugyo outbreak is currently devastating communities. The individual travelled overland from the DRC to Kampala, Uganda, then boarded a flight to Nairobi. Symptoms developed after arrival in Kenya. Samples tested positive at Kenya’s National Virology Reference Laboratory and the Kenya Medical Research Institute. Despite receiving supportive care, the patient died on the night of 5 October and was buried the following day under Kenya’s safe and dignified burial protocol.
Kenya’s case makes it the fourth country drawn into the current outbreak. The DRC remains the epicentre. France reported a travel-related case in June, and Uganda’s outbreak was declared over in August. WHO figures as of 23 September recorded 7,890 confirmed cases and 3,799 deaths in the DRC alone, a crude case fatality ratio of 48.1 per cent, spread across 63 health zones in seven provinces. That is not a slow-moving crisis — it is an active catastrophe on Nigeria’s continental doorstep.
The NCDC said it has been working alongside the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Port Health Services, state governments and international partners to reinforce Nigeria’s defences since the DRC outbreak was first reported. Those efforts span early detection, isolation, laboratory diagnosis, infection prevention and control, contact tracing and the protection of healthcare workers. Nigeria has also conducted a national Ebola preparedness tabletop simulation exercise to stress-test how the country would respond if a case were imported.
The agency issued clear guidance for specific groups. Anyone returning from an affected area must monitor their own health for 21 days. Those who develop symptoms must limit contact with others and contact public health authorities immediately, disclosing their travel history and any possible exposure. Health workers must maintain heightened suspicion when treating patients with Ebola-compatible symptoms who have travelled to or from an affected country within the previous 21 days. The wider public was advised to practise basic hygiene — regular handwashing and avoiding contact with the body fluids of sick or deceased persons.
The NCDC said it will continue monitoring developments in Kenya, the DRC and other affected countries, adjusting its measures as the situation evolves.
The stakes are not abstract. Official DRC government data released earlier this month put total confirmed cases at 3,200 nationwide, with the death toll climbing to 1,405. The virus is moving. Nigeria’s authorities are right to take it seriously.