Law and Ethics of Ebola Outbreak in Nigeria

Abstract

The public health measure which may be adopted to prevent continued spread of the Ebola virus is to identify and quarantine persons who have been or are reasonably suspected to have come into contact with the disease agent. Quarantine orders severely restrict the freedom of movement of the affected individuals but may be justified on the basis that it is imposed for the protection of public health. However, while it is acknowledged, and to some extent, expected that certain rights and liberties may be curtailed in an emergency, it is not necessary that the personal rights of the individual should be totally sacrificed. A balance is therefore required between individual right and public good. Such balance may be provided by a robust legal framework which will set out the threshold which measures in protection of public health must meet.

Keywords: Ebola virus, Law, public health, infectious diseases, personal right, quarantine, ethics, Nigeria