Health authorities are currently investigating a potential connection between the first confirmed Ebola cases in Nigeria and Kenya. Officials are looking into whether the two patients crossed paths while at an airport in Uganda. Dr. Wessam Mankoula, head of emergency preparedness and response at the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stated on Thursday that the center is probing whether there was any form of interaction between the two individuals at Entebbe International Airport. Both patients were present at the facility on the same day.
Nigeria announced its first case of Ebola in more than a decade on Tuesday. The patient is a Ugandan-born woman married to a diplomat based in Abuja. She had vacationed in Uganda in September and returned to Nigeria earlier this month. Health officials have quarantined 44 people who had close contact with her, and she is currently undergoing treatment. Nigeria now marks the fourth country on the continent to record an Ebola case during the current outbreak, and it is the furthest from the epicenter in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo began in the country's east in May and has since become the fastest-spreading instance of the virus on record, resulting in approximately 9,700 infections and at least 4,600 deaths. Although neighboring Uganda initially recorded about 20 cases, it was declared Ebola-free in August.
Kenya recorded its first Ebola case in early October, and the total has since risen to nine confirmed cases, according to the health ministry. The first Kenyan patient, who has since died, traveled to Kenya from Congo via Uganda. Ebola is transmitted through direct contact with bodily fluids or contaminated items. While it causes severe, potentially fatal fever, individuals are generally not considered infectious until they begin exhibiting symptoms.
Kenya Red Cross personnel during a simulation of the evacuation of remains of an Ebola victim in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on October 22, 2026. Kenyan authorities detected a ninth case of Ebola in the country, the health ministry said Tuesday. TONY KARUMBA/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
