Ebola investigation focuses on airport in Uganda
Health authorities are investigating whether infections in Nigeria and Kenya are connected.
Follow-up to: Ebola outbreak in Congo remains active Friday, 23 October 2026, 06:09
Listen to this article
There is no audio version yet. Request one and an AI voice will read the article aloud.
Read by an AI voice.
Health authorities are investigating whether the first Ebola patients in Nigeria and Kenya met at an airport in Uganda earlier this month. Nigeria says the infection is so far limited to one confirmed patient and that contact tracing is under way.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating possible contacts at Entebbe International Airport. Both the patient in Nigeria and Kenya’s first patient travelled via the airport on 3 October, news agency AP reported, citing African health authorities.
According to Nigeria’s Ministry of Health, Nigeria confirmed a first infection with the Bundibugyo virus on 20 October. The patient is a woman who travelled from Uganda to Nigeria and was admitted in Abuja. According to Nigeria’s Ministry of Health, 44 contacts have been identified and are being monitored.
The exact place where the woman became infected has not yet been established. Uganda says it has no active Ebola infections and disputes that the Nigerian patient became infected in Uganda. The World Health Organization also says the available information does not provide a conclusive answer.
The outbreak began earlier in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and has since spread across several countries, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. In Kenya, nine confirmed cases have been reported according to the latest ECDC summary, including one death.
The ECDC assesses the risk to residents of the European Union and the European Economic Area, as well as the risk of infection within the EU, as very low. The institute stresses that the assessment may change as new information becomes available.
RIVM says it is monitoring the situation and considers the risk to the Netherlands very small. The Dutch public health service advises travellers to consult official travel and health information for up-to-date advice on travelling to affected areas.
Also show the region and a close-up
Fact-check Approved · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The confirmed Nigerian infection, contact tracing and possible airport link are supported by primary and independent sources. The text keeps the route of infection and claims about Uganda uncertain.
- confirmed Nigeria confirmed one Ebola infection on 20 October. — Nigeria’s Ministry of Health and the ECDC report this. source
- confirmed The Nigerian and Kenyan patients travelled via Entebbe on 3 October. — AP attributes this to the Africa CDC. source
- confirmed Nigeria is monitoring 44 contacts. — This number appears in the ECDC summary and the Nigerian statement. source
- confirmed The risk to EU residents is very low. — This is the ECDC’s current risk assessment. source
- confirmed According to RIVM, the risk to the Netherlands is very small. — RIVM states this explicitly on its current information page. source
Editor's note
The new development is the investigation into a possible link via Entebbe. The route of infection has not been established; claims about Uganda are therefore explicitly attributed to the authorities involved.Sources
- First Ebola patients in Nigeria and Kenya might have crossed paths at Uganda airport — Associated Press
- Ebola disease outbreak caused by Bundibugyo virus – Multi-country – 2026 — European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
- Current information about Ebola — RIVM
- FG confirms Ebola disease case in FCT — Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare Nigeria
The story so far
- Friday, 23 October 2026, 06:09 Ebola outbreak in Congo remains active
- Friday, 23 October 2026, 17:12 Ebola investigation focuses on airport in Uganda (this article)
More on this in Dutch media
- NRC — „ebola nigeria”
- NU.nl — „ebola nigeria”
- De Telegraaf — „ebola nigeria”