Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) – Senegal and Nigeria are to be declared Ebola-free in a few days’ time if certain conditions are met, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
WHO said in a dispatch from its headquarters that if the active surveillance for new cases that is currently in place continues, and no new cases are detected, WHO will declare the end of the outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Senegal on Friday October 17.
”Likewise, Nigeria is expected to have passed through the requisite 42 days, with active surveillance for new cases in place and none detected, on Monday October 20,” the global health body said.
For Nigeria, WHO confirms that tracing of people known to have contact with an Ebola patient reached 100% in the commercial city of Lagos and 98% in the oil city Port Harcourt.
”In a piece of world-class epidemiological detective work, all confirmed cases in Nigeria were eventually linked back to the Liberian air traveller who introduced the virus into the country on July 20,” WHO said.
It said the anticipated declaration by WHO that the outbreaks in Senegal and Nigeria are over will give the world some welcome news in an epidemic that elsewhere remains out of control in three West African nations.
According to WHO, In Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, new cases continue to explode in areas that looked like they were coming under control. Over 4,000 people have died from over 8,000 cases mostly in the three nations.
A WHO subcommittee on surveillance, epidemiology and laboratory testing is responsible for establishing the date of the end of an Ebola outbreak.
The date is fixed according to rigorous epidemiological criteria that include the date when the last case with a high-risk exposure completes 21 days of close medical monitoring and tests negative for the virus.
