The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) yesterday said the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola diagnosed in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has to do with a diplomat whose condition has deteriorated into “multi-organ failure”.

On Tuesday, Health Minister, Muhammad Ali Pate, had announced that a female patient who had travelled from Uganda, tested positive for the virus. But in a statement issued after Pate’s comment, Charles Olaro, Director-General of Health Services in the East African country, clarified that the patient is a Nigerian.

Giving an update on Wednesday, the NCDC said the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola diagnosed in the FCT has to do with a diplomat whose condition has deteriorated. It was first discovered in Uganda in 2007. It spreads via direct contact with infected bodily fluids or contaminated materials.

Olajumoke Babatunde, NCDC’s director of the public health laboratory service, said the Ebola case detected in Nigeria is the Bundibugyo strain, which is behind a major DR Congo outbreak.

The official noted that the patient’s condition has deteriorated into “multi-organ failure”. The official did not disclose the nationality of the diplomat.

“We did three levels of tests, but all were molecular. The strain was Bundibugyo,” Babatunde said.