Nigeria could declare its imported Ebola outbreak over as early as December 7, 2026, provided no further confirmed or probable cases are recorded, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, has disclosed.
Pate made the disclosure in a statement shared via his official X handle, @muhammadpate, on Monday, following the medical evacuation of the imported index patient from Nigeria on October 26.
He explained that the December 7 target remains provisional and is contingent upon the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) validating the mandatory 42-day surveillance countdown required to certify an outbreak concluded.
According to him, any newly confirmed case would automatically reset the 42-day surveillance clock in line with standard WHO outbreak protocols.
The minister stated that the Federal Government’s immediate priorities focus on monitoring all line-listed contacts, rapidly investigating alerts, and reinforcing infection prevention and control across health facilities nationwide.
He added that national rapid response teams are actively collaborating with the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), state ministries of health, and international technical partners to ring-fence the infection and prevent community transmission.
Pate urged citizens to remain calm, extend full cooperation to contact-tracing teams, and rely exclusively on verified public health advisories issued by the NCDC and the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.
Nigeria had recorded an imported case of the virus involving a traveller who arrived from Uganda, prompting the immediate activation of national public health emergency mechanisms, including intensive contact monitoring and border surveillance.
While the medical evacuation of the index patient on Monday marks a major step in the containment effort, health authorities maintain that heightened surveillance, laboratory vigilance, and monitoring of primary contacts will continue uninterrupted until the end of the required observation window.
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