On 20 October 2014, the World Health Organization declared Nigeria Ebola-free. We recorded 20 cases and lost 8 lives, and the world took notes on how we contained it.
On 20 October 2026, twelve years to the day, a new imported case was confirmed in Abuja. The patient is in isolation and health authorities are tracing 44 contacts.
We have beaten this before, and we can do it again. Here is how each of us can help:
• Know the signs. Sudden fever, weakness, headache, muscle pain and sore throat, often followed by vomiting and diarrhoea. Early symptoms can look like malaria, and bleeding does not always happen.
• Know how it spreads. Ebola is not airborne. It passes through direct contact with the blood or body fluids of someone who is sick with it or has died from it.
• Speak up early. If you develop a fever after travelling from an affected country or after contact with someone suspected to have Ebola, call NCDC free on 6232 (24/7) and tell health workers where you have been.
• Check before you share. In 2014, a salt-water “cure” spread across social media, sent at least 20 people to hospital and cost two lives.
• Don’t stigmatise. Fear makes people hide symptoms, and hidden cases are how outbreaks grow.
There is no approved vaccine or specific treatment for this strain yet, so early reporting is our best protection.