Federal lawmakers have asked the Ministry of Finance to disburse outstanding allocations to health agencies as Nigeria traces contacts linked to an Ebola infection confirmed in Abuja.
The House of Representatives also requested an assessment of the additional resources necessary to contain the disease. It assigned that task to the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), asking both institutions to base their assessment on current epidemiological evidence and public health guidance.
The chamber adopted the resolutions during Wednesday’s plenary after Amobi Ogah, a Labour Party member from Abia State, presented a motion of urgent national importance.
His motion, titled ‘Urgent need to strengthen preventive and emergency medical measures against the spread of Ebola virus disease in Nigeria,’ sought immediate action to prevent further infections.
Alongside its funding requests, the House directed its Committee on Infectious Diseases to obtain briefings from relevant ministries, agencies and public health institutions. The committee will examine the Ebola situation and response arrangements, then submit its findings for further legislative consideration.
Lawmakers also called for the immediate mobilisation of federal and state health institutions and private healthcare providers. They identified state health ministries, port health authorities and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security among the institutions whose participation would support surveillance and epidemic preparedness.
The chamber urged the government to coordinate its work with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other regional and international public health bodies, drawing on current scientific evidence and international health regulations.
The parliamentary intervention followed the federal government’s confirmation of the infection on Tuesday, 20 October. The patient, a woman who recently arrived on an international flight from Uganda, is receiving medical care in isolation at a private hospital in the Federal Capital Territory.
Authorities identified 44 close contacts, including health workers, other patients, caregivers and people associated with her journey. Public health teams are monitoring those contacts and seeking others who may have been exposed.
The health ministry said it was working with the NCDC, the FCT Health Services Secretariat and other authorities to contain the infection. The hospital is also receiving assistance to reinforce infection prevention procedures.
During the debate, Ogah stressed the importance of prompt action throughout the processes of detecting infections, testing patients and providing care.
“Any delay in identifying suspected cases, conducting appropriate laboratory investigations, isolating confirmed cases, tracing contacts, or providing timely medical care could increase the risk of transmission and place additional pressure on the country’s healthcare system,” he said.
He acknowledged the contact-tracing exercise already under way and urged authorities to sustain surveillance so they could identify and monitor anyone else who might have encountered the infection.
Ogah also asked the chamber to recognise that “inadequate public awareness, insufficient infection prevention and control supplies, gaps in healthcare workers’ preparedness, and limited emergency response capacity could undermine efforts to prevent and contain the Ebola outbreak.”
According to WHO’s disease factsheet, viruses belonging to the Orthoebolavirus genus within the Filoviridae family cause Ebola disease, a severe illness that can be fatal.
Transmission occurs through direct contact with the blood or other bodily fluids of someone who is ill or has died from the disease, and through materials contaminated with those fluids. WHO states that infected people do not transmit the disease before symptoms begin.
The interval between infection and symptom onset ranges from two to 21 days. Patients may develop fever, headache, muscle pain and severe weakness, followed by vomiting or diarrhoea. Internal or external bleeding occurs in some cases.
WHO identifies early supportive care, infection prevention, laboratory services, surveillance and contact tracing among the measures necessary to improve survival and control transmission.