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Nigeria steps up airport health screenings over Ebola fears

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This story was published by Africanews on October 23, 2026 and curated on Africa Front.

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Health & Pandemics, Infrastructure, Nigeria News, Trade & AfCFTA, African Technology, Niger News

October 23, 2026

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Nigeria steps up airport health screenings over Ebola fears

Passengers arriving at Lagos airport queue for temperature checks as Nigeria steps up health screening protocols for international arrivals.

The country confirmed its first case of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola earlier this week. The patient was returning from Uganda, after a layover in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa.

Nigerian passenger Patrick Akwongu was returning from Italy with a layover in Addis Ababa:

“Yeah, I'm scared because we have been hearing about the news the way people are dying in the Congo. So we don't need such a case here in Nigeria because Nigeria is a crowded country. If such a thing happens here people will die like fowl, so we don't want it.”

DR Congo has been battling its worst ever Ebola outbreak since May. But cases of the virus have recently been confirmed in Kenya and now Nigeria. Uganda was declared Ebola-free in August after reporting 20 cases.

Bezalel Mfashingabo was arriving from Nairobi, also with a layover in Addis Ababa:

"I'm not worried at all but of course I'm taking precautions like being careful whom I am around with and I think also as a country (Kenya) having these cases recently they are also taking measures so the people who are infected they are quarantined so they are not very much you know exposed to the public, so there is no much panic there's so much, no no panic no fear actually in Nairobi where I'm coming from.”

Nigerian health authorities say the patient is being isolated and is in stable condition. They’ve so far identified 44 contacts and are intensifying efforts to find other people who may have been exposed.

Experts are optimistic about Nigeria’s ability to stop the virus from spreading. In 2014, the country successfully contained an Ebola outbreak, raising confidence it can respond effectively to the current threat.

However, concerns were raised this week after it emerged that the Ebola patient wasn't tested for the virus until 13 days after she showed symptoms.

The World Health Organization has warned that the spread of the virus from east to west shows the African continent is facing a “complex” Ebola outbreak.