Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa. In fact, its capital city alone, Lagos, has over 21 million population which is comparable to the population of other countries such as Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone totaled. However, Nigeria has been successful in preventing the spread of Ebola in the country.
The World Health Organization announced last October 20 that Nigeria has finally broken the chain of infection. They are now Ebola free. It has been 42 days since the last infection was noted and that is way beyond the 21-day established quarantine period.
Ebola disease has its biggest outbreak this year when it started since March. In its nine months of existence, it took more than 4,000 lives, patients or health care professionals alike. There are more than 8,000 infections recorded by the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention and World Health Organization.
The country had its first infection in July when a traveler came to Lagos where he vomited in the airplane and car which took him to the hospital. He died after five days and the virus was transmitted later on. The challenge in containing the virus was to properly trace all possible infections. It entailed hundreds of people.
However, the health officials were determined to trace everyone. The WHO and CDC helped them and later on reached 100% of all possible contacts in Lagos and 99.8% in Port Harcourt. With the help of the government, due support was given immediately making health officials equipped to provide proper care to patients. They conducted prompt isolation of prospect patients. Furthermore, good leadership and communication with the public are important aspects of their success.
Lastly, the country is implementing a successful program to eradicate Polio. They used the same protocol and program but slightly restructured it to fit the requirements of Ebola Disease. The proper way to control the spread of Ebola is the organized and united ways of all organizations may it be private or public.
