Nigeria to be declared Ebola Free October 20, 2014

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•   Although there is no single case of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in the country and not a single contact still under surveillance, by the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) protocol, the health authorities can only epidemiologically declare the outbreak of the virus over in Nigeria on October 20, 2014.

Responding to the enquiries following the confusion over the exact date Nigeria can be declared free of Ebola, the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, said the date is calculated as 42 days (that is, 21 days multiplied by 2) after the last case of EVD was discharged from the hospital.

It is for this reason the international media and WHO usually say the disease is “nearly contained” in Nigeria, he explained.

Onyebuchi, however, cautioned that though there is a WHO protocol for declaring a country Ebola-free, he termed it theoretical.

Explaining, he said: “Like I said in my speech two weeks ago at the UN General Assembly, as long as there is a single case of Ebola in any part of the world, every country is at risk.

“So this is really theoretical and countries would still have to take the necessary precautionary measures to guard against the outbreak of the virus in their territories.

“As you can see what happened in Texas, where we have a Liberian who flew in with the disease, although he was not symptomatic at the time he arrived the US.

“We also have a large Nigerian community in Texas, so we could still be at risk if a Nigerian contracts it from that place and comes home with it undetected. It is a risk that every country faces as long as other countries continue to combat Ebola outbreaks.”

Since the outbreak of the virus in Nigeria, the country has recorded 19 confirmed cases and seven deaths.

The country has also been praised by WHO and the international community for its rapid response and deployment of health care workers in the containment of the virus.

However, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were at each other’s throats yesterday, following the opposition’s statement asking President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP to stop taking credit for the country's successful containment of the Ebola virus.

APC said if anyone should be given credit for the containment of the disease, it should be the late Dr. Stella Adadevoh and her colleagues at the First Consultants Medical Centre, officials of the Ministries of Health in Lagos and Rivers States and the patriotic Nigerian volunteers.

It also gave credit to the Minister of Health for his outstanding performance in dealing with the virus.

   Let the countdown begin.....