Ebola outbreak nears end in Nigeria

The Ebola outbreak in Nigeria is almost over, after an ordeal that
began in July when a sick man with US-Liberian citizenship flew
there from Liberia, US health authorities said Tuesday.
On October 2, the West African nation should be able to announce a
formal end to its outbreak, which was far smaller than in nearby
Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, the US Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention said in a statement.
"There have been no new cases since August 31," said the CDC of
the situation in Nigeria.
The virus's incubation period is 21 days, and after two of these
periods have passed without any new cases, officials can declare an
outbreak over.
"The last three patient contacts will exit their 21-day follow-up on
October 2 strongly suggesting the outbreak in Nigeria has been
contained."
The outbreak in Nigeria began July 20 when Patrick Sawyer, a dual
US-Liberian citizen, boarded a plane to Lagos, a densely populated
city of 21 million people.
Ebola is spread through close contact with the bodily fluids of an
infected person. The illness causes diarrhea, vomiting, fever and fatal
bleeding in some cases.
"By the time it was recognized that the patient carried the Ebola
virus, he had exposed 72 people on commercial aircraft, at the
airport, and at the hospital," the CDC said.
Eight people died of Ebola in Nigeria out of 20 confirmed cases,
according to the World Health Organization. The Nigerian government
has said seven people died and 19 were infected.
The US agency credited Nigerian authorities with taking quick actions
to isolate patients and set up an incident management center for a
coordinated response.
"Although Nigeria isn't completely out of the woods, their extensive
response to a single case of Ebola shows that control is possible with
rapid, focused interventions," said CDC Director Tom Frieden.
Speaking last week at the UN General Assembly in New York,
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said prematurely, according to
medical experts that his nation was free of the deadly Ebola virus.
"We can confidently say that today Nigeria is Ebola free," Jonathan
told the largest diplomatic gathering in the world on September 24.
The death toll from the world's worst Ebola epidemic has claimed
3,091 lives in five West African countries out of 6,574 infected,
according to the WHO.