The Federal Government has provided an update on Nigeria’s first confirmed Ebola case, revealing that laboratory tests identified the Bundibugyo strain of the virus in the patient.
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The case involves a female diplomat who travelled from Uganda to Abuja on October 3, 2026, according to information presented at an emergency meeting on Wednesday. Her nationality was not disclosed at the meeting.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) said laboratory investigations confirmed that the infection was caused by the Bundibugyo strain, which has also been associated with an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Director of Public Health Laboratory Services at the NCDC, Olajumoke Babatunde, said the agency conducted three levels of molecular testing before establishing the strain responsible for the infection.
“We did three levels of tests, but all molecular. The strain was Bundibugyo,” Babatunde said.
The World Health Organisation also confirmed the strain. According to the information presented at the meeting, there is currently no specific treatment or approved vaccine for the Bundibugyo strain.
An official at the emergency meeting disclosed that the patient’s condition had deteriorated into multi-organ failure but did not provide further details about her nationality.
Following confirmation of the case, Nigerian health authorities identified 44 contacts linked to the patient and commenced monitoring them while intensifying efforts to identify other persons who may have been exposed to the virus.
The WHO also said infection prevention and control measures were being strengthened at the private hospital where the patient initially sought medical attention.
The confirmation comes amid concerns over Ebola outbreaks in parts of Africa, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.
Director-General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Jean Kaseya, warned on Tuesday that the outbreak posed a serious public health threat.
Kaseya described the Bundibugyo outbreak as the most geographically widespread Ebola outbreak in history, affecting several countries across three African regions, and appealed for urgent international support to contain its spread.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, health authorities have recorded more than 9,000 confirmed cases and 4,381 deaths, putting the fatality rate at close to 50 per cent.
Uganda, which had previously recorded 20 cases, was declared Ebola-free by the WHO in August after containing its outbreak.
Nigeria last experienced an Ebola outbreak in 2014, when health authorities successfully contained the virus.
Reacting to the latest development, a civil servant, Anthony Ojogho, expressed confidence that the government could again contain the disease if appropriate preventive measures were implemented.
“Nigerian governments have always been equal to the task. We contained Ebola, we contained coronavirus and the few cases we have now,” he said.
“If the right steps are being taken, I’m very sure that we’re going to contain, to a large extent, the spread of Ebola virus in Nigeria,” Ojogho added.
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