Staff Writer
Nigeria
has had 42 days without any cases of Ebola, which is double the incubation
period of the disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared Nigeria
free of Ebola on October 20th 2014. Though Nigeria can still
contract Ebola cases or even experience another outbreak, for now they are free
of any newly reported cases of the disease. This new information begs the
question, what did this country do differently to survive the horrendous and
devastating outbreaks surrounding them?
When
a Nigerian citizen was being treated in Liberia he decided to leave the
hospital and fly back to Nigeria, spurring an outbreak of the virus upon his
arrival. Nigeria has had a total of only 20 cases reported and only eight
fatalities. Compared to surrounding countries with thousands of cases and
deaths in the matter of weeks, Nigeria’s numbers are relatively low.
Before
Ebola first struck Nigeria, they were prepared in advance, noticing that
neighboring countries were suffering with more and more cases of the virus.
They began to train health care workers on how to deal with Ebola cases. Trained
and supervised by WHO, health care workers treated patients while wearing
specific protective equipment.
Nigeria
also spread the word to many citizens through social networking and encouraged
citizens to stay positive and be strong towards the situation. Government
officials made sure that there would not be a wave of fear across the country.
Nigeria kept their borders open to prevent the sense of helplessness across the
country.
Since
the capital of Nigeria, Abuja, is densely populated with slums and areas where
the virus can thrive, the government immediately declared a state of emergency.
Many groups of public experts formed the Ebola Emergency Operations Center
(EOC) to prepare the public for the worst. The Center for Disease Control and
Prevention and many other organizations reached 26,000 households of people who
were in contact with those who had Ebola. Getting the majority of the health
official community involved has saved many lives.
Since
the virus can strike back at any moment, Nigeria continues to train their
health care officials and remain prepared, setting the standards for other
countries to follow.
