ALERT! ‘Nigeria may suffer Ebola outbreak soon’ – House Of Reps Warn
Members of the House of Representatives has warned that Nigeria may suffer another Ebola outbreak if measures were not quickly put in place, Daily Post reports.
The lawmakers said the federal government is not doing enough to prevent another outbreak of the deadly viral disease which is currently ravaging the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The lawmakers said this while debating on two motions during Tuesday plenary, the first on the need to put adequate measures regarding the “looming reoccurrence” of the Ebola crisis in Nigeria, and secondly, on the need to honour late Stella Adadevoh.
According to the house, Nigeria is close to Congo and if measures were not put in place, the virus might find its way back into Nigeria.
Paschal Obi, chairman of the house committee on health institutions who sponsored the first motion, said although relevant agencies stepped up to stop the spread of the virus in 2018, little or nothing is being done now. Mr Obi said:
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“The house is worried that given the proximity of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to Nigeria and other West Africa countries, if necessary measures are not put in place to prevent the reoccurrence of the pandemic in a densely populated country like Nigeria, the impact may worsen and become difficult to curb.
“The house is also worried that aside the airport route which gave access to the initial outbreak of Ebola in Nigeria, there are other routes such as seaports and land borders which enables entry into Nigeria, hence, the need for precautionary measures to be extended to the seaports and land borders.”
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Recall that in 2014, Nigeria suffered an Ebola outbreak after a Liberian, Patrick Sawyerr, came into the country with the disease.