KEY POINTS

• Ebola patient and husband arrive safely in Switzerland for treatment and isolation.

• Nigeria continues monitoring 52 contacts linked to the imported case.

• The outbreak could be declared over by December 7 if no new cases emerge and WHO criteria are met.

Swiss authorities have confirmed that a 42-year-old Ugandan woman infected with the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola and her husband have arrived safely in Switzerland after being medically evacuated from Nigeria.

The woman is receiving treatment at Geneva University Hospitals, while her husband, classified as a close contact, has been placed in isolation at University Hospital Zurich.

Nigeria’s Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, announced the development on Monday, October 26, 2026, in a post on X, citing an update from the Swiss government.

The evacuation follows the confirmation of the woman as Nigeria’s first imported Ebola case. Health authorities say surveillance and containment measures remain in place despite the transfer.

Ebola Patient Receives Treatment in Geneva

In a statement, the Swiss government confirmed that the woman and her husband, both Swiss citizens, arrived from Nigeria on a medical evacuation flight.

Swiss authorities said the hospitals receiving them were equipped to manage serious infectious diseases, including Ebola, with appropriate isolation facilities and trained medical personnel.

The Swiss government also sought to reassure the public, stating that the situation posed no risk to the population in Switzerland.

The Federal Office of Public Health is coordinating the response with the hospitals in Geneva and Zurich and the relevant regional authorities.

Pate said Swiss Federal Councillor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider had expressed appreciation for the medical care provided to the couple in Nigeria before their evacuation.

According to the minister, the evacuation was made possible through cooperation between Nigerian health authorities, their Swiss counterparts and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Pate also commended the clinical and public health teams involved, including the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health and WHO Nigeria.

The collaboration, he said, helped facilitate the safe transfer of the patient and her husband for continued medical management.

Despite the evacuation, Nigerian authorities have maintained that surveillance, contact monitoring and other containment measures will continue.

WHO Regional Director for Africa, Professor Mohamed Janabi, said Nigeria had no remaining Ebola cases following the patient’s evacuation.

However, authorities were continuing to monitor 52 contacts linked to the case. Switzerland would take responsibility for the patient’s ongoing treatment and follow-up of her husband, who was identified as contact number 53.

Nigerian health officials are also investigating alerts and working with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and WHO’s Regional Office for Africa to prevent further transmission.

Authorities have urged members of the public to remain calm, cooperate with contact-tracing teams and rely on official updates.

Pate said Nigeria could potentially declare the Ebola outbreak over as early as December 7, 2026, provided no additional confirmed or probable cases were detected.

The proposed date remains provisional and depends on the NCDC and WHO validating the required 42-day countdown under WHO criteria.

Any new confirmed or probable case could restart the countdown, delaying the possible declaration that the outbreak has ended.

Before her evacuation, Nigerian health authorities had described the woman as clinically stable, conscious and able to communicate. Her laboratory test results were also reportedly approaching baseline levels.

Officials cautioned, however, that clinical improvement did not necessarily mean she was no longer infectious. Strict public health precautions were therefore maintained throughout the evacuation process.