A patient infected with the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola virus in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, has developed multiple organ failure, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has disclosed.
The agency confirmed the deterioration in the patient’s condition in an update on the outbreak, raising concerns over the severity of the infection detected in the country.
The case involves a diplomat whose infection was confirmed after the Minister of Health, Muhammad Ali Pate, announced on Tuesday that a woman who had travelled from Uganda tested positive for Ebola.
However, Uganda’s Director-General of Health Services, Charles Olaro, later clarified that the patient was Nigerian, although the NCDC’s latest update did not disclose the diplomat’s nationality.
The NCDC’s Director of Public Health Laboratory Services, Olajumoke Babatunde, said laboratory investigations established that the infection was caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus.
Babatunde explained that the diagnosis was confirmed through three stages of testing, all of which involved molecular methods. She also disclosed that the patient’s condition had deteriorated to multiple organ failure.
The Bundibugyo strain was first identified in Uganda in 2007 and has also been associated with a major outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The virus can spread through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected persons or contaminated materials.
The development comes amid heightened attention to the Ebola case in Nigeria, with health authorities expected to sustain surveillance and response measures to contain the infection and limit the risk of further transmission.
