Nigeria confirms imported case of Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease

• Nigeria has confirmed one imported case of Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), becoming the fifth country to detect the virus since an outbreak of the disease was declared in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on May 15, 2026. 

• The patient is a woman with a recent travel history to Uganda. She is currently in isolation and receiving medical care. 

• The World Health Organisation (WHO) and partners are working closely with health authorities to strengthen control measures, including case investigation, contact tracing, infection prevention and control, and provision of essential supplies including personal protective equipment for health workers. 

• WHO has not recommended any restrictions regarding travel and trade with affected countries. 

• More than 9,500 cases and more than 4,200 deaths were recorded as of October 18, according to latest data from the Congolese health authorities.

• Uganda also faced a deadly outbreak which was officially declared over in late August, while nine cases have been reported in Kenya and one in the Netherlands that are linked to the DRC.

Bundibugyo virus disease

• Bundibugyo virus disease (BVD) is a type of Ebola disease.

• BVD is a severe and often fatal form of Ebola disease caused by the Bundibugyo virus, one of the Orthoebolavirus species. 

• It is a zoonotic disease, with fruit bats suspected to be the natural reservoir. 

• Human infection occurs through close contact with the blood or secretions of infected wildlife, such as bats or non-human primates, and subsequently spreads from person to person through direct contact with the blood, secretions, organs, or other bodily fluids of infected individuals or contaminated surfaces. 

• Transmission is particularly amplified in health-care settings when infection prevention and control (IPC) measures are inadequate, and during unsafe burial practices involving direct contact with the deceased.

• Early symptoms are non-specific, including fever, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, and sore throat, which complicates clinical diagnosis and can delay detection. 

• These progress to gastrointestinal symptoms, organ dysfunction, and in some cases haemorrhagic manifestations. 

• Case fatality rates in the past two BVD outbreaks, reported in Uganda and in DRC in 2007 and 2012, have ranged from approximately 30 to 50 per cent.