The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has approved a weekly payment of N100,000 for people identified as contacts of Nigeria’s confirmed Ebola case to cover feeding, accommodation and other essential needs during public health monitoring.
The Director-General of the NCDC, Dr Jide Idris, disclosed this at a media briefing in Abuja on Sunday, explaining that the emergency intervention followed complaints from some contacts about the financial burden of complying with isolation and quarantine arrangements.
Idris said the support was intended to ensure that those being monitored could meet their basic needs without facing additional economic difficulties.
“We are paying for their accommodation; we are paying for their feeding. Some of them are asking for a stipend to maintain their families,” he said.
“We are providing N100,000 per person per week just to maintain their comfort and feeding, because they were complaining.
“This was not planned for, but it is an emergency. We will continue to review it as we go along.”
He also called on state governments to make adequate financial and logistical arrangements to manage public health emergencies, stressing that the responsibility should not rest solely on the Federal Capital Territory Administration.
“This is not the responsibility of the FCT alone. What we have to do for the FCT, we have to do for any other state, just in case,” he said.
According to him, states must be ready to provide the resources needed for contact tracing, isolation and other disease-control measures within their jurisdictions.
The intervention comes as health authorities intensify efforts to prevent further transmission following Nigeria’s confirmation of an imported case of Ebola virus disease in Abuja on October 20, 2026.
Idris said the country had recorded one confirmed case as of Sunday, with 53 primary contacts identified for monitoring. They include healthcare workers, members of the patient’s household, domestic staff and personnel who participated in collecting samples.
He explained that the contacts had been classified according to their level of exposure and were being monitored by public health teams. Anyone who develops symptoms would undergo further assessment and testing.
The NCDC has also made isolation arrangements for contacts who require them, with health officials monitoring their condition throughout the 21-day incubation period following their last possible exposure.
Idris disclosed that one contact who reported feeling unwell had tested negative for the virus, adding that surveillance and follow-up activities were continuing.
As part of the broader response, the agency is strengthening infection prevention and control measures in health facilities, training healthcare workers and supporting the availability of protective equipment and laboratory supplies.
The confirmed case involves a woman who travelled to Nigeria from Uganda and tested positive for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola virus. She reportedly developed symptoms on October 7, sought medical attention in Abuja on October 11 and received confirmation of the infection on October 20.
The World Health Organisation has classified the infection as an imported case, while investigations continue to establish the likely source of exposure.
The wider regional outbreak has also affected the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya, highlighting the need for cross-border surveillance and prompt identification of people who may have been exposed.
Nigeria successfully contained an Ebola outbreak in 2014 through case identification, contact tracing, isolation and coordinated public health interventions.
Idris said the NCDC was applying lessons from that experience to strengthen preparedness across the country, noting that an effective response would require cooperation among government agencies, healthcare workers, affected contacts and members of the public.
He urged Nigerians to depend on verified information, refrain from spreading rumours and cooperate with public health officials carrying out contact tracing and monitoring.
