Reps ask FG to watchout for fresh Ebola outbreak

The House of Representatives has mandated the Federal Ministry of Health to immediately activate strategies to be implemented in monitoring adherence to Ebola guidelines and ensure residents continue to comply with all advisories aimed at curtailing the likely development of the virus.

The House also urged the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to ensure intensive observation and check on travel protocols for inbound passengers from red flag countries.

It further mandated NCDC to set up the national response to control the likely emergence and spread of the Ebola virus in order to spare Nigeria the brunt of the pandemic.

These resolutions were sequel to the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance moved by Dachung Musa Bagos (APC, Plateau) at plenary on Thursday.

Moving the motion said on September 20, 2022, Uganda health authorities declared an outbreak of Ebola disease, caused by Sudan virus, following laboratory confirmation of a patient from a village in Madudu sub-county, Mubende district, central Uganda.

He said the World Health Organisation raised concern that in the absence of licensed vaccines and therapeutics for prevention and treatment of Sudan virus disease, the risk of potential serious public health impact is high.

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“Investigations are ongoing to determine the scope of the outbreak and the possibility of spreading. Importation of cases to neighboring countries cannot be ruled out at this stage.

“Further aware that according to the information currently available, the overall risk has been assessed as high at national level considering: the confirmed Sudan virus and the lack of an authorized vaccine, the possibility that the event started three weeks before the identification of the index case and several transmission chains have not been tracked.

“Worried that the Ebola virus is giving a lot of people concern around the world as it was the variant that gave a lot of infections and fatalities.

“Concerned that Nigeria has reason to be warier at the moment as the deadly Ebola virus can get into Nigeria through our borders or travelers coming into Nigeria for business or any reason and could become dominant if unchecked,” he stated.