The two latest suspected Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) cases in Nigeria have been identified as a 34-year-old pilot and his wife, a medical doctor, who presented with symptoms in Yola, Adamawa State. Laboratory tests conducted in two rounds returned negative results, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) confirmed.
According to an internal memo from the Adamawa State Ministry of Health and Human Services obtained by Premium Times, the couple were admitted to the isolation centre at Modibbo Adama University Teaching Hospital (MAUTH) in Yola on 29 October 2026. The pilot developed symptoms including fever, vomiting, fatigue, headache, cough, bleeding gums and nosebleeds on 13 October, while his wife developed similar symptoms on 25 October.
The Adamawa State Public Health Emergency Operations Centre received the report in the early hours of 30 October. Both individuals were immediately isolated, samples were collected, and public health measures, including contact identification and listing, were initiated.
NCDC Director-General Dr Jide Idris stated that the samples tested negative for Ebola after two rounds of laboratory testing. “Fortunately, the samples turned out negative for EVD after two rounds of testing,” he said in a statement. He confirmed there is currently no laboratory-confirmed Ebola case in Adamawa State.
Idris clarified that the previously confirmed case in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) — involving a Swiss woman who travelled from Uganda and tested positive for the Bundibugyo strain on 20 October — remains Nigeria’s only laboratory-confirmed Ebola case to date. The patient and her husband were later medically evacuated to Switzerland.
The NCDC earlier announced on 31 October that two suspected cases had been identified in Nigeria’s North-East region without initially naming the state. Officials stressed that classification as “suspected” did not mean the individuals had tested positive, as confirmation depends on laboratory results.
Idris commended the Adamawa State Commissioner for Health and his team for their proactive response and said the NCDC would continue providing technical support. He urged the public to remain calm, avoid spreading unverified information or speculation, and rely only on official government and public health communication channels.
Anyone experiencing symptoms such as fever, severe weakness, headache, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhoea or unexplained bleeding — particularly after possible exposure or relevant travel — should seek immediate medical attention and inform healthcare workers of any travel or contact history. Self-medication is strongly discouraged.
Health authorities continue to monitor the situation closely amid heightened surveillance following Nigeria’s first confirmed Ebola case in more than a decade.
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