US To Learn Best Practices On How To Contain Ebola From Nigeria And Senegal

Nigeria’s response to the Ebola outbreak has been praised as worthy of emulation in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, today. The CDC director, Tom Frieden, stated, "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.”

The CDC confirmed Tuesday that it has diagnosed a case of Ebola Virus Disease in Dallas, Texas, but the Director insists, “the crisis is under control and the public has nothing to fear.” adding however that the US  “needs a quick and thorough response to its first Ebola patient.” [see picture]

Frieden said in the MMWR that, “the best practices in Nigeria and Senegal suggest the U.S. should monitor all individuals who may have been exposed to Ebola and establish a dedicated management and response system.”

Senegal has had no new reported cases of Ebola since Sept. 18 while Nigeria has not reported new ones since August 31.

During the Nigerian outbreak, there were 19 laboratory-confirmed and one probable Ebola cases in two states. Nearly 900 patient contacts were identified and followed; all but three have completed 21 days of follow-up period without Ebola symptoms.  There have been no new cases since August 31 and the last three patient contacts will exit their 21-day follow-up today, October 2.

How Nigeria stopped the spread of Ebola
According to US CDC, “Nigeria’s first reported case of Ebola surfaced July 20, when Patrick Sawyer landed in Lagos from Liberia and exposed 72 other passengers to the virus. Nigeria’s Health officials quickly issued notifications and tracked everybody who may have been in contact with Sawyer.
“Nigeria also established an Ebola Incident Management Center to handle the potential outbreak and developed a staffing plan that executed a social mobilization strategy that reached more than 26,000 households of people living around the contacts of Ebola patients,”

How Senegal contained Ebola
Senegal confirmed its first Ebola case Aug. 29 after a man, travelling from Guinea on Aug. 14, took ill and showed symptoms of the disease. This prompted a quick response, including an experienced and trained staff that was prepared to contain the Ebola outbreak. The procedure led to the identification of 67 contacts who were placed under quarantine, monitored for 21 days and showed no symptoms of Ebola.