Senate Seeks Replacement of 1926 Quarantine Act Amid Ebola Threat

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Senate has called for the replacement of Nigeria’s 100-year old Quarantine Act of 1926 with a modern public health law aligned with the International Health Regulations of 2005, amid concerns over the spread of the Bundibugyo Ebola virus.

The upper chamber of the National Assembly also urged the federal government to provide emergency funding to strengthen disease surveillance and enforce mandatory health screening at all international airports, seaports and designated land borders.

The resolutions followed a motion of urgent national importance sponsored by Senator Francis Faduyile, who raised concerns over the spread of the Ebola outbreak from the Democratic Republic of Congo to other African countries, including Uganda and Kenya.

Lawmakers expressed concern that Nigeria’s existing legal framework for quarantine and port health operations was outdated, while inadequate staffing and equipment at several entry points could weaken the country’s ability to detect and contain imported cases.

The Senate consequently urged the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and Port Health Services to make health screening compulsory for all arriving international passengers, irrespective of nationality or country of departure.

The proposed measures include health declaration forms, temperature checks and symptom assessments, with enhanced screening for travellers who have visited or transited through affected areas within the preceding 21 days. It also called for exit screening during declared public health emergencies.

The lawmakers further urged the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and the Nigeria Immigration Service to provide adequate numbers of trained Port Health officers, thermal scanners, protective equipment and isolation facilities at all entry points.

The Senate also called on the federal government to ensure that isolation and treatment centres were adequately prepared across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

On funding, it urged the government to release emergency funds from the service-wide vote and asked the ministries of finance, budget and economic planning to provide adequate funding for the NCDC and Port Health Services in the 2027 budget, including the release of outstanding funds.

The resolution comes as the federal government confirmed Nigeria’s first case of Ebola virus disease in the Federal Capital Territory on Wednesday.

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Pate, said laboratory tests confirmed the infection in a woman who had recently travelled to Uganda and returned to Nigeria with symptoms on October 7.

However, Uganda’s Ministry of Health said the location of the patient’s exposure remained under investigation, adding that travel through the country alone was insufficient to establish where the infection occurred.

The Senate warned that Nigeria’s existing disease burden, including Lassa fever, cholera and diphtheria, underscored the need to strengthen public health preparedness and prevent another major health emergency.