WHO to declare Nigeria Ebola-free

WHO to declare Nigeria Ebola-free

Nigeria is expected to be declared Ebola-free today, just three months after fears that the virus could spread like wildfire through Africa’s most populous nation.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is preparing to announce that Nigeria has not had a confirmed case of Ebola for 42 days or two incubation periods of 21 days. It did same for Senegal on Friday.
The achievement is being welcomed, with no end in sight to the disease that has claimed more than 4,500 lives this year, most of them in west Africa, and mounting fears about cases around the world.
Close attention is being paid to how Nigeria managed to contain the virus, as specialists look for a more effective response to control its spread.
But there were warnings against any premature celebration, with complacency still a risk and luck considered to have played a part in containing the outbreak.
Eight people died out of 20 confirmed Ebola cases in Nigeria, with all infections traced back to a single source, Liberian finance ministry official, Patrick Sawyer, who arrived in Lagos on July 20.
Many feared the worst when Mr Sawyer died on July 25 in a private hospital in Nigeria’s biggest city, which is home to more than 20 million people.
Doctors were on strike at the time over pay and conditions in the public health sector.
Yet the doomsday scenario of rapid spread among a 170-million-strong population, devastating Africa’s leading economy and oil producer, did not materialise.
“Nigeria acted quickly and early and on a large scale,” John Vertefeuille, from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told AFP.