The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has said the 62 contacts identified following the confirmation of an imported Ebola case in the country are expected to complete monitoring by November 13, 2026.
The agency disclosed this in its latest Ebola Disease Situation Report, stating that the contacts were scheduled to complete follow-up at different times between October 31 and November 13.
The development indicates that November 13 is the latest projected date for completing the monitoring of all contacts currently identified in connection with the confirmed case, although surveillance and contact-tracing activities remain ongoing.
According to the report, “Sixty-Two (62) contacts” had been identified, adding that “Contacts are expected to complete follow-up by November. Expected completion dates range from 31 Oct to 13 Nov 2026.”
The NCDC, however, did not provide a breakdown of the contacts according to their individual monitoring completion dates.
It said contact tracing and monitoring were continuing, while additional contact tracers had been mapped and trained to strengthen surveillance.
The agency also disclosed plans to “engage and assess additional contacts for possible evacuation to the quarantine facility” and “continue follow-up of contacts in quarantine.”
It said the scope and strategy for identifying contacts had been reviewed and expanded, while the case definitions for Ebola disease had also been reviewed to improve the identification and management of suspected infections.
The report further listed plans to review guidelines on contact tracing, self-quarantine, self-care kits and the Ebola call protocol, as well as develop an Ebola disease dashboard on the Surveillance Outbreak Response Management and Analysis System, SORMAS, to improve contact management.
On coordination, the NCDC said the National Incident Management System had been activated under the leadership of the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate.
It said the implementation of prioritised response activities had continued across thematic areas, while the Incident Action Plan had been finalised.
The agency added that a high-level stakeholder meeting had been held with partner agencies to strengthen coordination, resource mobilisation and accountability in the response.
Among its next steps, the NCDC listed the continuation of coordination across One Health sectors and partners, implementation of the Incident Action Plan and strengthened preparedness in states considered at high risk.
On laboratory investigations, the agency disclosed that 18 samples had been tested since the outbreak was confirmed, with one positive result and 17 negative results.
It stated that the positive sample was from the index case, while the 17 negative samples comprised 15 collected from contacts of the confirmed patient and two from suspected cases.
The report said, “Laboratory confirmation reported on 20th October 2026,” adding that “Phylogenetic sequencing concluded by NCDC NRL & The African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID).”
It also disclosed that standard operating procedures and job aids had been validated for sample reception, molecular detection and genomic sequencing.
The agency said it would maintain uninterrupted Ebola testing and confirmation at the National Reference Laboratory, with plans to expand testing capacity to Lagos.
It also listed the need to maintain diagnostic testing and laboratory records, share reports of genomic sequencing conducted on the confirmed case sample and pre-position additional laboratory reagents and commodities across the national network of laboratories.
On case management, the NCDC said it had further engaged the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital on its readiness to serve as an isolation and treatment centre.
It disclosed that a needs assessment and optimisation of the hospital had been concluded, while the FCT team had been engaged on clinical care and psychosocial support for contacts in quarantine facilities.
