The first confirmed Ebola case recorded in Nigeria in over a decade has been flown out of the country for further medical management.

The patient was evacuated on Monday morning, October 26, 2026, from the General Aviation Terminal (private jet wing) of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, aboard a chartered medical evacuation aircraft.

Sources at ARISE News revealed that the medevac jet had arrived earlier and was kept on standby for the operation. By 6:00 a.m., a convoy of three vehicles — including an ambulance conveying the patient from the city centre, diplomatic escort cars and a vehicle belonging to an international organisation — drove directly into the private jet terminal.

To ensure privacy and safety, airport authorities restricted access to the terminal, but footage later showed the patient being transferred into the waiting air ambulance by a team of foreign medical personnel.

The Federal Government has now confirmed the development. Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, said in a statement on X that he personally authorized the transfer.

He disclosed that the patient, a 42-year-old Ugandan-born woman married to a Swiss diplomat serving in Nigeria, departed Abuja for Switzerland alongside her husband, who has shown no symptoms.

Pate noted that before departure, the patient was awake, stable, alert and communicating, with lab parameters improving, but clarified that she remains potentially infectious and all safety procedures were strictly observed.

He appreciated health workers and public health officials who managed the case and coordinated the transfer.

Nigeria had confirmed the case on October 20 as an imported infection of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola virus disease. Preliminary investigations show the woman travelled into Abuja from Uganda via Addis Ababa on October 3 and became symptomatic on October 7.

Health authorities say at least 53 contacts have so far been listed and are under close monitoring to prevent further spread.

Source: ARISE News