Ebola Outbreak In Nigeria Looks Like It’s Over

Some good news on the Ebola front:

Since the first patient — a dying Liberian-American — flew into Lagos, Nigeria, on July 20, the disease spread to 20 other people in two cities, who had contact with nearly 900 others. But every known case has now died or recovered, and the cure rate was unusually high for an African outbreak. Virtually all the contacts have passed the incubation period without falling ill.

The success was in part due to the existence of an emergency command center paid for by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to fight polio. As soon as the outbreak began, it was turned into the Ebola Emergency Operations Center.

No doubt, the success in Nigeria has been due to a combination of quick reaction on the part of Nigerian and international authorities, the fact that the disease did not originate in the country so it as easier to isolate people who may have been potentially exposed to the disease, and the fact that Nigeria likely has a better medical infrastructure than Sierra Leone and the other western African nations that continue to battle the disease.

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Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Hal_10000 says:

    Nigeria’s government, for all its issues, is moderately functional and responded to the crisis quickly and decisively. The plague is raging out of control in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Senegal because they took too long to respond and don’t have the ability to deal with it. This is a rare time where I’m in agreement with Obama — we need to respond to this massively and immediately because it can get a hell of a lot worse.

  2. lounsbury says:

    Ebola is not raging at all in Senegal.

    Guinea Conakry is what you are looking.for. Guinea Conakry is not out of control, but not good either. Liberia and Sierre Leone are totally out of control.

  3. KM says:

    And now it’s here.

    CDC just confirmed the first Ebola case in the US, in Dallas. This isn’t over yet, we’re just starting.

  4. lounsbury says:

    Oh yes, Zombie Apocalypse, etc.

    Stop being such a bunch of pants-wetting dramatists.

  5. Neil Hudelson says:

    @lounsbury:

    Guinea [Conakry] is a powder keg. I’ve worked some in their hospitals–all 4 of them–and their health clinics. The doctors there are well educated, passionate, and talented, but they are working with almost no medical infrastructure whatsoever. It’s only by the grace of God they haven’t yet turned into Sierra Leone.

  6. DonVito says:

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    http://www.dudeiwantthat.com/gear/weapons/crovel-tactical-shovel.asp