Ebola: WHO Officially Declares Nigeria free

The World Health Organisation has officially declared Nigeria Ebola free today, October 20, 2014 in Abuja. 

Channels TV reports:

The World Health Organisation on Monday declared Nigeria free of the deadly Ebola Virus. Nigeria has not recorded a new case of Ebola for 42 days or two incubation period of 21 days.

WHO representative, Rui Gama Vaz, who said it was a “spectacular success story,” added that “Nigeria is now free of Ebola.”

“This is a spectacular success story … It shows that Ebola can be contained but we must be clear that we have only won a battle, the war will only end when West Africa is also declared free of Ebola,” he said.

Quoting Rui Gama Vaz’s Official Statement, Channels TV adds, 

“Today 20th October, 42 days(twice the incubation period) after the last confirmed case of ebola virus disease was discharged from the isolation ward having tested negative for Ebola virus, the chains of transmission have been broken.

WHO officially declares that Nigeria is now free of Ebola virus transmission. The virus is gone for now. The outbreak in Nigeria has been contained. But we must be clear that we only won a battle. The war will only end when West Africa is also declared free of ebola.

While the outbreak is now officially over, Nigeria’s geographical position and extensive borders makes the country vulnerable to additional imported cases of ebola virus disease. It is therefore critical to continue vigilance for any suspected cases by strict compliance with WHO EVD preparedness guidelines. Therefore there is need to continue to work together with states to ensure adequate preparedness to rapidly respond, in case of any potential re-importation.”

Nigeria had 20 cases in total, of which eight died.

The outbreak has killed more than 4,500 people in West Africa, mostly in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone.

Source: channelstv.com