The World Health Organization said Monday that Nigeria is Ebola-free, three days after it made a similar declaration about the coastal African nation of Senegal.
Nigeria is the continent’s most populous country, so when officials confirmed a case of the deadly virus on July 23, “the news rocked public health communities all around the world,” according to WHO.
The case arrived in Lagos, a major city with about 21 million residents, or almost as many people as Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone combined. Those three nations have been hardest-hit by the epidemic.
WHO says health officials sprang into action and tracked down 100 percent of known contacts to the first patient in Lagos, and nearly all contacts at a second outbreak site in Port Harcourt, an oil hub.
Backed by financial resources and staff, the country built isolation wards and physically monitored people for 21 days, the incubation period for Ebola.
Much like in the U.S. case of Thomas Eric Duncan, the virus arrived in Lagos via an air traveler from Liberia who died several days later. Only this time, the patient was visibly sick during his travels.
A close contact of the man, or “index patient,” traveled to Port Harcourt, introducing a second outbreak spot. Quick mobilization, open communication among officials and an awareness campaign kept the virus in check, and the nation has been Ebola-free for 42 days, or twice the incubation period.
“The virus is gone – for now. The outbreak in Nigeria has been defeated,” WHO said.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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