Some good news in the fight against Ebola. Nigeria officially Ebola free. Yahoo/AP

Airport arrivals having their temperature checked in Nigeria. Yahoo/AP

The World Health Organization has declared the Ebola outbreak in Nigeria to be over. Yahoo/AP. The country had a small outbreak after Liberian-American Patrick Sawyer spread the disease via air travel after leaving Liberia. The outbreak hit 20 people, 8 of which, including the index case died. 42 days have passed since the last new case, double that of the known maximum incubation time for the disease. Widespread contact tracing and isolation were enough to contain the outbreak. The rare good news in the outbreak follows a similar declaration in Senegal where the country was able to stop the outbreak at one case. Both countries are keeping vigilant just in case another carrier arrives to start the outbreak all over again. The disease is still out of control in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guiana. 

My Comment:

It feels good to write some rare good news about this outbreak. With the news that both Nigeria and Senegal were able to beat their Ebola outbreaks and the fact that no cases have popped up yet in Spain after the successful treatment of their patient gives a little bit of hope to the whole situation. Perhaps the United States can learn something from these countries that will be useful in containing the outbreak here. Contact tracing and isolation can stop the outbreak in its tracks if it is done soon enough.

Of course this was a minor skirmish in a much wider war. As long as the disease is winning in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guiana, there is a very good chance of the disease spreading to other countries. Nigeria and Senegal may be Ebola free today but what happens when people start fleeing the affected West African countries? It was a monumental task to trace and isolate everyone who was exposed when just one person came to Nigeria and Senegal. What happens when there are dozens? We can only hope that the outbreak stops before then.  

I haven't heard much news from the other West African countries and what little I have heard has all been negative. The couple of cases in America has dominated the news coverage. I do know that Liberia has been hit so hard with the disease that the various agencies in charge of tracking it no longer know how many people are infected or dead. Largely because the people that were in charge of collecting that information are dead, infected or have quit.