The World Health Organisation (WHO) has commended Nigeria after all 62 contacts linked to the country’s imported case of Bundibugyo virus disease completed 21 days of monitoring without any secondary transmission.
WHO Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, disclosed this in a statement posted on his X handle on Friday, November 13, 2026, following a briefing by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) in Abuja.
Ghebreyesus congratulated the Nigerian government, health workers, and responders for preventing the spread of the virus linked to the case reported on October 20.
“A positive milestone in Nigeria’s Ebola response: all 62 identified contacts of the case reported on 20 October have completed 21 days of monitoring, with no secondary transmission detected. My congratulations to the government, health workers and responders for their success in preventing the spread of the Bundibugyo virus”, the WHO Director-General stated.
He added that the WHO would continue its support and heightened vigilance as Nigeria entered the second half of the 42-day countdown.
Earlier on Friday, NCDC Director-General, Jide Idris, announced during a briefing that the last of the 62 contacts completed the 21-day monitoring period and was discharged on November 13.
Idris disclosed that 13 of the contacts reported fever or other non-specific symptoms during the monitoring period, but all tested negative for the virus.
“Today, we announce an important milestone in our national response to the imported case of Bundibugyo virus disease. The 21-day monitoring period for all 62 identified contacts has been completed with the last contact discharged today. We are glad to announce that none of the contacts became ill, meaning no transmission from the index case”, Idris said.
Despite the development, Idris warned that the completion of contact monitoring did not mean the outbreak had formally ended.
He said Nigeria remained vigilant amid ongoing Ebola transmission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, adding that the NCDC’s National Emergency Operations Centre remained activated at Level 3.
The imported case was confirmed on October 20 after a 42-year-old woman who travelled from Uganda arrived in Abuja on October 3 through Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
She developed symptoms on October 7 and was admitted to a private health facility on October 11, before the NCDC was notified on October 19 and laboratory tests confirmed the infection the following day.
The patient was evacuated to Switzerland on October 26 for medical care and was discharged from hospital on November 11 after recovering.
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