‘It has gotten worse’ – NCDC gives update on Ebola patient’s condition

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, NCDC, has given an update on the health condition of the Ebola patient in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.

Speaking during an emergency meeting in Abuja on Wednesday, the Director of Public Health Laboratory Service at the NCDC, Olajumoke Babatunde, said the patient is a diplomat whose condition has deteriorated to multi-organ failure.

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,” Olajumoke said.

The World Health Organisation, WHO, also confirmed the strain, which has no approved vaccine or specific treatment at the moment.

DAILY POST reports that the patient is a woman who travelled from Uganda to Abuja on October 3, 2026 and was admitted to a private hospital in the FCT where she was first treated for malaria-like symptoms before Ebola was suspected.

According to the Incident Manager of the National Ebola Response, Dr Odianosen Ehiakhamen, the patient developed symptoms on October 7, 2026, and presented at the hospital on October 11.

The NCDC said 44 close contacts have been identified and are being monitored, including health workers, patients, caregivers and travel contacts.

The agency said the patient is currently in isolation and receiving medical care while surveillance has been increased.