As Nigeria celebrated her 50th Independence Anniversary last week, the US reported a case of Ebola in Texas. As expected, this sent a wave of panic across the country, but the health officials quelled it saying “the crisis is under control and the public has nothing to fear.”
A day after, reports surfaced indicating that the CDC would study Nigeria & Senegal’s countermeasures in a bid to develop a quick and effective response to the first U.S Ebola patient. [eap_ad_2]
“Although Nigeria was not completely out of the woods, their extensive response to a single case of Ebola shows that control is possible with rapid, focused interventions. 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,” said Tom Frieden, Director of the US CDC.
A statement from the CDC briefly outlined Nigeria’s initial counter strategy; “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.”
Some school children had reportedly been in contact with Thomas Duncan, the Liberian national who was diagnosed with Ebola in the U.S last week after a trip to his country; they remain under surveillance but none has, so far, exhibited symptoms. About 30 other people who may have been in contact with the patient since his arrival in the U.S are also being monitored.
The latest update from Thomas’s doctors suggests that his condition is critical. (VENTURES AFRICA) [eap_ad_3]