Switzerland has confirmed that the woman diagnosed with Nigeria’s first recorded case of Ebola is the wife of a staff member at its embassy in Abuja.
The Swiss Foreign Ministry disclosed this on Friday, stating that the woman had recently travelled to Uganda with her husband but neither had visited the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the epicentre of the ongoing outbreak.
“The Swiss woman, who is symptomatic, has been hospitalised for about a week at a private clinic in Abuja,” the ministry said in a statement.
It added that the infection may have occurred during a trip to Uganda approximately two weeks before the diagnosis.
“Her husband is in isolation; he has shown no symptoms. He accompanied his wife on the trip, during which she is believed to have contracted the Ebola virus,” the statement said.
The ministry stressed that neither the woman nor her husband had travelled to the DRC.
Nigeria announced its first recorded Ebola case on Tuesday, identifying the patient as a woman who arrived in Abuja on a flight from Uganda on October 3, 2026.
On Wednesday, Nigerian authorities confirmed that the patient had contracted the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which is responsible for the ongoing outbreak in the DRC.
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The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has identified 44 contacts linked to the case as part of efforts to monitor potential transmission and contain the infection.
The Swiss Foreign Ministry said the woman’s husband remained in isolation despite showing no symptoms. It also reported that the remaining 25 embassy staff members, comprising eight Swiss nationals and 17 local employees, were doing well.
Following consultations with Nigeria’s health ministry and the World Health Organization (WHO), the other embassy staff members were not required to enter isolation, according to the statement.
Switzerland is also considering the possible repatriation of the patient for treatment in her home country.
The Bundibugyo strain is a species of Ebola virus for which there are currently no specifically approved vaccines or treatments, making early detection, isolation and supportive medical care important in managing cases.
Nigeria has become the fourth African country affected by the current Bundibugyo outbreak, following the DRC, Uganda and Kenya, according to the information provided by the authorities.
The outbreak began in northeastern DRC in May before spreading to neighbouring Uganda. Twenty confirmed cases, including two deaths, were recorded in Uganda before the outbreak there was officially declared over in August.
According to WHO figures cited in reports as of October 20, the wider epidemic had recorded more than 9,700 confirmed cases and 4,690 deaths.
The confirmation of the case in Nigeria has heightened public health concerns because of the country’s large population and extensive domestic and international travel connections. Health authorities are monitoring identified contacts and coordinating response measures to limit the risk of further transmission.