Nigeria Risks Fresh Ebola Outbreak, Reps Raise The Alarm

The House of Representatives has raised the alarm over the possibility of the Ebola virus returning to Nigeria, urging the Federal Government to immediately activate preventive measures.

Members of the House, at the plenary on Thursday, unanimously adopted a motion moved by one of them, Dachung Bagos, who warned that the virus might spread to Nigeria as other African countries had been recording Ebola cases.

It was titled ‘Motion of Urgent Public Importance on the Need for Federal Government to Activate Response against the Possible Detection of Ebola in Nigeria.’

Bagos noted that the Ugandan health authorities, on September 20, 2022, declared an outbreak of Ebola disease, caused by the Sudan virus, following laboratory confirmation of a patient from a village in Madudu sub-county, Mubende District, Central Uganda.

The lawmaker also noted that the World Health Organisation expressed concerns 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.

According to him, investigations are ongoing to determine the scope of the outbreak and the possibility of spreading. “Importation of cases to neighbouring countries cannot be ruled out at this stage,” he stated.

-Punch