Health Ministry Kept Quiet on Ebola Patient Evacuation Until Media Reports Forced Confirmation

Nigerian authorities did not disclose information about the medical evacuation of the country’s Ebola patient until after the media had reported it.

Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, only came out to confirm the development an hour after the story broke.

In a post on his X (formerly Twitter) handle, Prof. Pate, while reacting to a prior media report published an hour earlier, stated, “I confirm that, with my approval, earlier this morning, the index case for Nigeria’s first imported Ebola virus disease departed Abuja for Switzerland,” adding, “The index patient was clinically much improved, stable, conscious, communicating, and her clinical laboratory test results were closing towards baseline.”

However, the Minister cautioned that physical improvements do not mean the patient is cleared of transmission risks. “This does not mean she is not still infectious; hence the strict protocols in place,” he emphasized.

The patient was evacuated from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport alongside her husband, who remains completely asymptomatic.

Minister Pate thanked the clinical and public health teams for ensuring the evacuation met international safety benchmarks.

He reassured the public that the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) is maintaining all domestic containment measures, including the strict surveillance of identified contacts.

“All public health measures are continuing to ensure successful containment of the imported virus,” Pate said, urging citizens to remain vigilant and rely only on verified health sources. A follow-up operational update is expected later this afternoon once the flight lands safely in Switzerland.