The World Health Organisation (WHO) has praised the Nigerian government after 62 people identified as contacts of the country’s index Ebola patient completed 21 days of monitoring without testing positive for the virus.
WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, commended Nigeria’s preparedness and response efforts in containing the outbreak.
In a statement on Friday, Mr Ghebreyesus described the development as a positive milestone in the country’s Ebola response, noting that no secondary transmission had been detected among the 62 contacts linked to the case reported on October 20.
He said Nigeria had entered the second half of the mandatory 42-day countdown required for the country to be declared free of the disease.
The WHO chief reaffirmed the organisation’s continued support and heightened surveillance during the remaining period, while congratulating the government, healthcare workers and other responders for preventing the spread of the Bundibugyo virus.
Under WHO guidelines, a country can only be declared free of an infectious disease after completing 42 consecutive days without recording a new confirmed case.
Nigeria is expected to attain Ebola-free status by December 7, provided no additional case is detected within the period.
The country recorded its first Ebola case on October 20, more than a decade after the 2014 outbreak involving Liberia’s Patrick Sawyer, who arrived in Nigeria with the infection.
The female patient linked to the latest outbreak had travelled to Uganda and developed symptoms after returning to Nigeria. She was born in Uganda and married to a Swiss diplomat.
The 42-year-old woman tested positive for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola virus disease on October 20.
She was subsequently evacuated to Switzerland on October 26 to continue her treatment.
