The Federal Government is taking intense and aggressive steps to ensure the Ebola epidemic ravaging some parts of East and Central Africa does not spread to Nigeria.
To this end, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and nine other states have been placed on heightened Ebola surveillance and monitoring following the outbreak of the malignant Bundibugyo strain of the virus in Congo and Uganda.
The development is contained in a public health advisory issued to state Commissioners for Health by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, NCDC.
In the advisory dated May 27, 2026, the agency listed the ten states being surveilled and monitored as Lagos, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Rivers, Kano, Enugu, Borno, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Taraba, and Adamawa.
It noted that these states have a point of entry through which the disease is likely to find its way into Nigeria as they have international airports, seaports, border corridors, and heavy human traffic, warning that Nigeria remains at high risk of importing the virus due to increased regional transmission, cross-border movement, international travel, and porous borders.
According to the NCDC, the current outbreak involving the Bundibugyo strain portends danger because there is presently no approved vaccine or targeted treatment for the variant.
“The immediate objective of our national preparedness and readiness efforts is to ensure that every state and the FCT can reasonably detect, contain, and respond swiftly to any suspected case while protecting health workers and sustaining essential health services,” the agency stated.
Although Nigeria has not recorded any confirmed Ebola case, the NCDC disclosed that a recent risk assessment carried out after the epidemic was declared a public health emergency of international concern showed that the threat of importation into the country remains high.
The agency revealed that Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo had already recorded over 1,000 suspected cases and hundreds of deaths linked to the outbreak, with a fatality rate estimated at 24.6 per cent.
The outbreak has also raised global concern, with reports of suspected cases emerging in India, while Canada reportedly imposed temporary restrictions on certain travel applications involving residents from Uganda, the DRC, and South Sudan.
Uganda has introduced border control measures aimed at curbing the spread of the disease.
Health authorities stressed that the Bundibugyo strain differs from the more common Zaire Ebola strain, which existing vaccines and antibody therapies primarily target.
“The current Bundibugyo virus outbreak has no licensed vaccines or approved targeted therapeutics,” the advisory warned.
The NCDC further implored healthcare workers not to only watch out for visible bleeding as a sign of Ebola, noting that symptoms may initially resemble malaria, Lassa fever, or other common illnesses.
“Health workers must not wait for bleeding before suspecting Ebola in any patient with compatible symptoms and relevant travel or exposure history,” the agency advised.
As part of its emergency response strategy, the NCDC said the National Emergency Operations Centre had already been activated in alert mode to coordinate nationwide preparedness efforts.
State governments were directed to activate emergency preparedness structures, strengthen surveillance at entry points, identify isolation centres, equip frontline health workers with personal protective equipment, and intensify public awareness campaigns to prevent panic and misinformation.
Nigeria’s latest Ebola alert has brought back memories of the country’s successful containment of the virus during the 2014 outbreak after an infected Liberian-American traveller, Patrick Sawyer, arrived in Lagos and exposed several people before the timely intervention of authorities.
At the time, public health experts feared a major outbreak in Lagos due to its dense population and commercial significance. However, Swift and aggressive contact tracing, isolation protocols, emergency coordination, and relentless public awareness campaigns helped contain the virus within months.
The World Health Organisation later commended Nigeria for its response calling it one of Africa’s most successful Ebola containment efforts.
Health authorities are now urging Nigerians to remain calm, avoid misinformation, maintain proper hygiene practices, and promptly report any suspected symptoms as surveillance and emergency preparedness measures intensify across the country.
