The University of Lagos (UNILAG) and the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) have issued Ebola advisories to their students and staff this week, after Nigeria confirmed an imported case of Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease in Abuja on October 20, 2026. UNILAG’s advisory went out on Tuesday, October 20, and FUOYE’s Directorate of University Health Services published its own on Thursday, October 22. Both tell students to stay calm, keep up hand hygiene and report symptoms early, and neither advisory suspends lectures.
The case behind the alerts is a woman who had recently travelled from Uganda, according to the World Health Organization’s Africa office. Her symptoms began on October 7, four days after she arrived in Nigeria, and she went to a private facility in Abuja on October 11 before laboratory tests confirmed the virus. WHO said she is in isolation and receiving care, and that 44 of her contacts had been identified and were being monitored as of its update.
| Confirmed | 20 October 2026 |
|---|---|
| Location | Federal Capital Territory, Abuja |
| Virus | Bundibugyo virus disease, a type of Ebola |
| Patient | Imported case, recent travel from Uganda, in isolation |
| Contacts being monitored | 44, as of WHO's 20 October update |
| School closures announced | None announced by the Federal Government |
| NCDC toll-free line | 6232 |
What UNILAG wants its students to do, and not do
UNILAG’s advisory opens by telling students and staff to “remain calm but vigilant”, adding that there is no need for panic. It asks everyone to wash their hands often with soap and running water or use an alcohol-based sanitiser, and to “avoid direct contact with the blood and other body fluids of anyone suspected of having Ebola.” The symptoms it lists are fever, severe weakness, headache, muscle pain, vomiting and diarrhoea.
The instruction that matters most if you feel ill is about the order of things. UNILAG says anyone who develops symptoms should avoid close contact with others and call public health authorities for guidance before walking into a hospital or clinic, and that anyone who thinks they’ve been exposed should contact the authorities straight away, even without symptoms. The university also asked students to share information only from official sources and not to discriminate against anyone suspected of exposure.
FUOYE is putting sanitisers and handwashing points across departments
FUOYE’s advisory, signed by the Director of University Health Services, Dr Grace Oyeronke Adeshina, and posted on the university’s news site, goes further on campus logistics. It directs departments and units to provide hand hygiene facilities, make hand sanitisers available to staff and students, and step up awareness campaigns.
Ebola is not spread through ordinary casual contact or through the air.
That line answers the question most students in a crowded hostel or lecture hall will be asking. The FUOYE advisory says the risk comes from contact with the body fluids of suspected or confirmed cases, from contaminated materials and from handling the bodies of people who may have died of the disease. It also warns against bushmeat from uncertified sources, and tells anyone exposed who develops symptoms to seek urgent medical assessment, avoid self-medication and tell health workers about the exposure.
Every day
- Wash your hands oftenSoap and running water, or an alcohol-based hand sanitiser
- Avoid body fluids of suspected casesDon't handle contaminated materials or the bodies of people who may have died of the disease
- Skip bushmeat from uncertified sourcesListed in FUOYE's advisory
If you feel ill
- Call before you visit a clinicIf you have symptoms, avoid close contact and call public health authorities first
- Report any possible exposureContact the authorities even if you have no symptoms
- Don't self-medicateGet an urgent medical assessment and tell health workers about the exposure
Lectures go on, so your health centre and 6232 are the numbers to know
The Federal Government hasn’t announced any school or university closures over the case, and the only confirmed patient in the latest official update is in Abuja. That means the advice from UNILAG and FUOYE is about prevention and early reporting rather than changes to your timetable. If your own school hasn’t issued anything yet, its health centre is the first place to ask, and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention’s toll-free line, 6232, listed on the NCDC website, is the number to call if you’re worried about symptoms or exposure.
Other universities may put out their own advisories over the coming days. Be careful with voice notes and broadcast messages announcing closures or new cases, since none of those carry weight until NCDC, the Federal Ministry of Health or your school confirms them. If you’re heading into exams or travelling home between semesters, keep a small sanitiser in your bag and save 6232 on your phone now, because both advisories put an early call ahead of a walk-in visit.
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