Nigeria's Ebola count is zero, but 52 contacts are still being watched

Nigeria's Ebola case count fell to zero on Monday, Oct. 26, 2026, when a Swiss woman being treated for the virus was medically evacuated to Switzerland with her husband. The World Health Organization said Nigeria has no remaining Ebola cases but continues to monitor 52 contacts.

The patient was Nigeria's first confirmed case in the current outbreak. She tested positive after returning from Uganda, where she likely contracted the virus. Nigerian Health Minister Muhammad Pate approved the evacuation.

Pate said her condition had improved significantly and that she was stable, conscious and able to communicate. He also said she remained infectious, which is why strict protocols stayed in place. Her husband, a Swiss diplomat in Nigeria, has shown no symptoms.

WHO African Regional Director Mohamed Janabi said the evacuation was arranged because the couple are Swiss citizens and because Nigerian medical teams had stabilized the woman after treating her through the acute phase. Switzerland will handle her continued care and monitor her husband, identified as contact number 53.

WHO congratulated Nigeria on its handling of the index case. The agency's statement that the country currently has no cases is accurate as far as it goes. It does not mean the outbreak risk is over.

The 52 contacts still under follow-up in Nigeria are the reason. The next several weeks, not the evacuation itself, will determine whether this remains a contained index case or becomes a wider transmission event.

The case also shows how quickly the virus can move beyond Congo's outbreak zone by air travel. A single patient's evacuation can shift a country's official count to zero while the public-health risk stays live.

Open questions remain.

For now, the headline number is zero. The test is the calendar.