Swiss Diplomat's Wife Is Nigeria's New Ebola Patient

The Democratic Republic of Congo has been battling a major Ebola outbreak since May 2026. On Friday, the Swiss foreign ministry identified the latest patient as the Ugandan-born wife of a Swiss diplomat stationed in Abuja.

Nigeria’s health minister, Muhammad Ali Pate, confirmed the diagnosis on Friday. This is the country’s first recorded Ebola case in more than ten years. The ministry stated the woman had not visited the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the outbreak began in mid-May. Officials believe she contracted the virus while traveling in Uganda with her husband.

This account contradicts earlier reports from Uganda. A Ugandan government spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday that the woman had traveled to eastern DR Congo. The spokesperson added that Uganda had no active Ebola cases and would release information if that changed. The World Health Organization declared Uganda Ebola-free in August after reporting cases in May and June.

Catherine Smallwood, a WHO Ebola incident manager in DR Congo, spoke to a UN briefing in Geneva via video link on Thursday. She said WHO staff in DR Congo had no information indicating the patient traveled there. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating a potential link to a Kenyan Ebola case.

Dr. Wessam Mankoula, head of emergency preparedness at the Africa CDC, said both patients passed through Uganda’s Entebbe airport on October 3. Smallwood noted that a connection to the Kenyan case is possible. Officials must compare the timing of that exposure with the onset of the Nigerian patient’s symptoms to determine the likely source of infection.

Marion Koopmans, a Dutch virologist on the WHO’s Ebola emergency committee, expressed doubt about the airport theory. She described the idea as very speculative without evidence that the patients shared space in a way that explains transmission. She stated that random presence at a large airport does not meet the epidemiological standard for a supported link.

The outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, which has no approved treatment or vaccine. Announced on May 15, it has infected more than 9,500 people and killed nearly half of them. This is the largest outbreak in DR Congo’s history and the second largest globally, behind the 2014-16 west Africa epidemic that infected over 28,600 people. Pate said the case in Nigeria remains contained while contact tracing continues.