The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has identified the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola virus in a 42-year-old Abuja resident who returned from Uganda.
Dr Biodun Oguniyi, Deputy Director and Head of Emergency Preparedness at NCDC, disclosed this at the National Emergency Coordination Forum on Thursday in Abuja.
Oguniyi said the patient transited through Addis Ababa and arrived in Abuja on Oct. 3 before falling ill and being reported by a private hospital on Oct. 19.
He said 44 contacts had been identified and placed under 21-day monitoring, while the patient was isolated and receiving treatment.
Oguniyi noted that the case coincided with the anniversary of Nigeria being declared Ebola-free on Oct. 20, 2014.
He said the current outbreak involved the Bundibugyo virus, which differs from the Zaire strain responsible for the 2014 outbreak.
According to him, no licensed vaccine or approved treatment exists for the Bundibugyo strain, which has recorded a case fatality rate of about 50 per cent in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
He said the DRC had recorded 9,552 cases, with about half resulting in deaths, while Kenya continued to report active transmission.
Oguniyi added that Uganda had recently declared its Ebola outbreak over.
He urged Nigerians to avoid direct contact with bodily fluids, discourage stigmatisation and reject misinformation, including claims that salt water could cure Ebola.
Oguniyi cautioned Nigerians against rushing to buy face masks, explaining that Ebola is not an airborne disease and is not transmitted through inhalation, water, or mosquito bites.
“Ebola is contracted through direct contact with body fluids of a sick person or corpse.
“You don’t need face masks to prevent Ebola. Avoid touching, avoid handshake, wash your hands regularly,” he said.
He advised the public to watch out for symptoms such as sudden fever, weakness, headache, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhoea and bleeding, and to report suspected cases through the NCDC toll-free line, 6232.
On cholera, Dr Muhammad Usman, Head of the Research Governance Unit at NCDC, said Nigeria had recorded 72,134 suspected cases and 476 deaths.
He said Borno accounted for 96 per cent of the reported cases.
Usman identified June as the peak of cholera transmission in 2026, with 27,065 cases recorded during the month.
He noted that one in four cholera-related deaths occurred in communities before victims could reach health facilities.
Earlier, Mr Tony Ephraim, Deputy Director of Planning, Research and Forecasting at the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), said the forum was crucial amid El Niño effects, flooding, cholera and Ebola threats.
Ephraim said the forum brought together emergency sector leaders, ministries, departments and agencies, the armed forces and humanitarian partners.
He said the meeting provided an opportunity to share information and agree on practical actions to protect vulnerable groups.
Ephraim added that NEMA would sustain preparedness, early warning and coordination with partners to ensure timely, evidence-based and people-centred responses nationwide.
In an interview, Mr Jonah Barde, Deputy Director in the Department of Climate Change, Federal Ministry of Environment, described the forum as critical to the country.
“This is a forum where we are discussing issues that are very critical to this country.
“Coming from the environment sector, we know how sensitive climate change issues are and how they are affecting us,” he said.
Barde said he expected participants to become better informed and sensitised, particularly about the El Niño threat.
He added that participants were expected to develop strategies to address the challenges.
