The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has linked the Bundibugyo Ebola case detected in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to a diplomat who is currently experiencing multi-organ failure.
This update follows a statement on Tuesday by Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate, who reported that a female traveler arriving from Uganda had tested positive for the virus.
However, Uganda’s Director-General of Health Services, Charles Olaro, subsequently clarified that the patient is a Nigerian national.
In a further update on Wednesday, the NCDC confirmed that the FCT infection was caused by the Bundibugyo Ebola strain—first identified in Uganda in 2007—and noted that the virus spreads through direct contact with infected bodily fluids or contaminated items.
According to Olajumoke Babatunde, Director of Public Health Laboratory Services at the NCDC, diagnostic tests confirmed that the Nigerian case involves the Bundibugyo strain, which was previously linked to a major outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Babatunde revealed that the diplomat’s health condition had worsened, resulting in “multi-organ failure”.
However, she did not reveal the patient’s nationality.
“We did three levels of tests, but all were molecular. The strain was Bundibugyo,” Babatunde said.
FG, Uganda collaborate
Meanwhile, the Federal Government urged citizens on Wednesday to avoid panicking, assuring the public that the country’s single confirmed Ebola case remains under containment.
Prof. Muhammad Pate, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, briefed State House journalists on Wednesday evening at the Presidential Villa in Abuja following a meeting on the Ebola situation with Presidential Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila.
Pate emphasized that authorities are actively tracing individuals who had contact with the patient and partnering with Uganda—which is managing its own outbreak—to halt any potential transmission of the virus.
He said, “All I can tell you is that we are collaborating with our sister African nation of Uganda.
“What is important is that we have found this one case.
“We are doing contact tracing, and we are putting containment measures to ensure that it doesn’t go into our population.”
Backstory…
Recall that the Federal Government on Tuesday confirmed the first case Ebola case in FCT, making the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) present in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The case was laboratory-confirmed after a woman, who recently returned to Nigeria from Uganda, was admitted to a private medical facility in the FCT.
The Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, disclosed the development in an official statement released on Tuesday, October 20, 2026
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