The World Health Organization announced Nigeria is rid of the Ebola virus that has killed thousands across West Africa in the worst epidemic of the disease in history, the BBC reported.
The last known Ebola case in Nigeria was reported September 5. Since then, there have been no new cases of the virus, prompting WHO officials on Monday to declare the nation Ebola-free.
"The virus is gone for now," Rui Gama Vaz, a WHO Nigerian representative, said according to the BBC. "The outbreak in Nigeria has been defeated."
Ebola has an incubation period of two to 21 days, meaning the period of time when symptoms usually occur. WHO officials waited a period of 42 days- twice the maximum incubation period- to successfully declare the outbreak over in Nigeria.
"This is a spectacular success story that shows to the world that Ebola can be contained but we must be clear that we have only won a battle, the war will only end when West Africa is also declared free of Ebola," Vaz said according to the BBC.
Over 4,500 people have died from Ebola in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, the center of the epidemic.
Nigeria declared a national public health emergency after an American-Liberian man named Patrick Sawyer was the first to be diagnosed with the disease in July. Because Sawyer, who died from the disease, was quickly diagnosed, health officials were able track down everyone he possibly came in contact with, the BBC reported.
"That was probably the difference between us and our West African neighbors," Bankole Cardoso, the son of the doctor who treated Sawyer, told the BBC. Unfortunately Cardoso's father, Dr. Ameyo Stella Adadevoh, also died from Ebola.
A total of eight people died from Ebola in Nigeria out of 20 cases.
Officials hope the Ebola-stricken countries can somehow follow in Nigeria's footsteps to maintain the outbreak. But eradicating the disease in the rest of the affected West African countries is a task far easier said than done- the illness has taken its toll on their already struggling economies, there is no known cure for Ebola and health officials continue to plead for an increased global response to help maintain the outbreak.
Several European Union members have agreed to commit over $600 million to help strengthen the healthcare systems in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, the BBC reported. Germany is also considering sending a civilian mission to the region as a precedent for sending medical staff, while the U.S. has already sent military troops and medical supplies to West Africa.
