Nigeria traces 44 contacts after Ebola cases crossed at Entebbe airport

The first Ebola patients confirmed in Nigeria and Kenya may have crossed paths at an airport in Uganda earlier this month, African health officials said on Thursday, as they race to trace and slow an outbreak that has spread to several countries on the continent.

Both patients are known to have passed through Uganda's Entebbe International Airport on 3 October, said Dr. Wessam Mankoula, head of emergency preparedness and response at the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).

Key facts

• Both the Nigerian and Kenyan patients transited Entebbe International Airport on 3 October 2026.
• The outbreak emerged in Congo in May and has since been detected in three other African countries.
• Nigeria announced its first case on Tuesday and is tracing 44 contacts.
• Kenya has recorded nine cases so far, linked to a traveller returning from Congo through Uganda.
• Uganda recorded 20 cases before declaring itself free of the disease in June.

What do officials believe happened at the airport?

Africa CDC is investigating a possible encounter between the two patients at Entebbe airport, with Mankoula saying the inquiry concerns "some sort of interaction between the two cases at the airport." Uganda is now believed to be linked to the imported cases in Nigeria and Kenya, despite having declared itself free of the disease in June.

What is known about the Nigerian case?

Nigeria announced its first case on Tuesday, saying the patient had travelled from Uganda. Ugandan authorities rejected the claim that the patient was exposed in their country and said she had instead travelled to Congo — an account that health officials now dispute.

The Nigerian patient is a Uganda-born wife of a diplomat in Abuja who vacationed in Uganda for two weeks in September and arrived in Nigeria in early October, officials said. So far there is no indication that she travelled to Congo, Mankoula said, and World Health Organization officials said the same at a separate briefing on Thursday.

Nigeria said it is currently tracing 44 contacts. Mankoula said additional contacts have been identified but declined to give the updated figure.

How far has the outbreak spread?

The outbreak emerged in Congo in May and has been detected in three other African countries, making it the continent's most geographically widespread Ebola outbreak in history. Kenya has recorded nine cases so far, linked to a traveller who returned from Congo to Kenya through Uganda.

Congo has infected more than 9,500 people, killing nearly half of them, and the virus has spread to eight provinces and 66 health zones in the country's eastern region. Africa CDC data shows only 20% of confirmed cases are among known contacts and about 60% of deaths occur in the community, outside treatment centres. Analysts say the disease is out of control in some Congolese hotspots.

What this means for travellers

The outbreak now affects four African countries, and an international airport in Uganda has been identified as a possible point of contact between imported cases. Contact tracing is under way in Nigeria, and officials have not released a final count of people being followed up.

Travellers planning trips to Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda or Congo should follow guidance from national health authorities and the World Health Organization before departure.

Officials said the investigation into the possible airport contact and the wider contact tracing continues.