A diplomat diagnosed with the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, has reportedly deteriorated into multi-organ failure, as the Federal Government and state governments intensify surveillance, contact tracing and emergency preparedness to prevent the spread of the deadly disease.
The patient’s name and nationality were, however, not disclosed.
The Director of Public Health Laboratory Service at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Olajumoke Babatunde, gave the update at an emergency meeting of the agency in Abuja on Wednesday.
The NCDC said the case is the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, the same strain causing the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, adding that three levels of molecular tests were done to confirm the strain.
“The patient’s condition has deteriorated. We did three levels of tests, but all were molecular. The strain was Bundibugyo,” Babatunde revealed.
The Bundibugyo virus is a rare species of the Ebola virus group. Scientists first identified it during an outbreak in Uganda in 2007. Ebola can spread through direct contact with the blood and other bodily fluids of an infected person, or with contaminated materials. It is not ordinarily transmitted through casual contact with someone who is not showing symptoms.
The development comes as Anambra State disclosed that it had followed up 40 persons of interest, with 33 completing their monitoring period and being cleared, while seven remained under active follow-up as of October 20, 2026.
Niger State has also placed its health system on high alert, activated emergency operations and said it was completing an isolation centre, while Ogun is tracing 111 persons of interest.
The Federal Government confirmed the Ebola case in Abuja on Tuesday, after a woman who had recently arrived on an international flight from Uganda was admitted to a private hospital in the FCT for several days before the infection was confirmed.
Following the index case, the NCDC has commenced an incident-management response, with officials working on case management, enhanced surveillance, contact tracing, infection prevention and control, and public risk communication.
FG, Uganda collaborate
Meanwhile, the FG on Wednesday said Nigeria’s only Ebola case was being contained, urging Nigerians not to “fall into a trap of hysteria or panic”.
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Muhammad Pate, spoke to State House correspondents on Wednesday evening after a meeting with the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on the Ebola situation.
Pate said the government was working with Uganda, which is battling its own outbreak, and was tracing the case’s contacts to stop the virus from spreading.
He told our correspondent, “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.”
He said Nigeria had handled the disease before and had the institutions to do so again.
“The Federal Government has competent authorities to deal with this. We have done it in 2014, and we have good public health institutions. Nigerians should be reassured.
“We must be vigilant, but not panic. People should respect public health information from trusted sources and not spread misinformation and false rumours,” Pate added.
The minister promised regular updates and said he would soon receive a report on the case.
“We will be truthful to Nigerians with the information that we receive on a daily basis.
If the situation changes, we will come out and inform Nigerians,” he affirmed.
The Minister said the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention had an incident management system and was “working 24/7”, while the Presidential Task Force on Ebola was also active.
He noted that the outbreak had run for five months without a case in Nigeria and that other countries had dealt with it.
According to him, “It’s one case. It’s an imported case, and we are containing it.”
Ebola fears: FG, states on alert as infected diplomat suffers organ failure
