The World Health Organization (WHO) has rejected a headline claiming it declared Nigeria Ebola-free, saying the report misunderstood a statement that the country currently has no confirmed Ebola case.
The confusion followed a post by Mohamed Janabi, WHO Regional Director for Africa, after Nigeria’s index Ebola patient and her husband were evacuated to Switzerland on Monday.
Janabi wrote that “Nigeria currently has no Ebola cases” following the evacuation, while stressing that vigilance remained critical.
BusinessDay’s report appears to have converted that narrower statement into a formal declaration.
Its headline “WHO declares Nigeria Ebola -free after infected patient’s evacuation” — used the phrase “Ebola-free,” although the report’s own body said authorities would continue monitoring 52 contacts linked to the case.
It also noted that the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention had identified 53 contacts, including the patient’s husband, healthcare workers and domestic staff.
The distinction is important. “No current case” describes the immediate situation after the infected patient was transferred out of Nigeria.
An official Ebola-free declaration, however, requires health authorities to complete the prescribed monitoring period without detecting further transmission.
The WHO’s previous formal declaration of Nigeria as Ebola-free, made in 2014, came only after 42 days had passed since the last confirmed patient was discharged, with no new cases recorded.
That period represents two incubation cycles of the virus and is intended to provide confidence that transmission has ended.
In the current outbreak, Nigeria confirmed its first imported case of Bundibugyo Ebola virus disease on October 20 after a woman who had travelled from Uganda tested positive.
The patient was treated and stabilised by Nigerian medical teams before being evacuated to Switzerland, where she and her husband will receive continued care and follow-up.
Muhammad Pate, Nigeria’s coordinating minister of health, said the patient was stable, conscious and communicating, but cautioned that clinical improvement did not necessarily mean she was no longer infectious. He said strict public- health protocols were followed during the evacuation.
Nigeria will continue monitoring 52 contacts, while Switzerland will assume responsibility for the patient’s care and the monitoring of her husband, listed as contact number 53.
WHO has requested that the headline be retracted and corrected, describing it as an inaccurate interpretation of Janabi’s post.
The accurate position, based on the available statements, is that Nigeria currently has no confirmed Ebola case — but the country remains under surveillance and has not received a new formal Ebola-free declaration.