Ebola Reaches Nigeria as Outbreak Becomes Most Geographically Widespread in History

Nigeria confirmed its first Ebola case on October 21, 2026, when a woman who had travelled from Uganda to the capital Abuja tested positive for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola virus disease. She began showing symptoms on October 7 and was admitted to a private hospital on October 11. Nigerian health authorities identified 44 close contacts who are being traced and monitored. On the same day, Kenya reported its ninth confirmed infection, a 24-year-old man already in quarantine who belongs to the same cluster of cases; Kenyan authorities say no transmission outside that cluster has been detected. The outbreak originated in the Democratic Republic of Congo in May 2026 and has grown to more than 9,000 confirmed cases and 4,381 deaths in the DRC alone — making it the second-largest Ebola outbreak on record — with a mortality rate approaching 50%. Africa CDC Director Jean Kaseya called the situation 'an extremely serious threat' and appealed to the international community to act immediately by sending funding, medical supplies, and health workers. The spread from central Africa to east Africa and now west Africa has led health officials to describe this as the most geographically widespread Ebola outbreak in history.