US To Study How Nigeria Stopped Ebola Virus

The Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, where a patient is showing signs of the Ebola virus.

Following the current panic in America over the reported outbreak of the deadly Ebola Virus Disease EVD, in Dallas, Texas, the United States government has sent medical experts to Nigeria to study how the country was able to quickly halt the spread of EVD.

This was made known on Tuesday in a statement issued by Tom Frieden, Director of United States’ Center for Disease Control and Prevention, a copy obtained by Vanguard.

He disclosed that the man who imported Ebola into US was discovered to have travelled to Liberia without informing the United States authorities and did not disclose the nature of his ailment to the nurse that attended to him, who is now also diagnosed Ebola.

Frieden, who also revealed that apart from Nigeria, the US will also visit Senegal to study its model said: “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.”

The health official further stated that the U.S officials expected in Nigeria are experts in the handling and combating of Ebola Virus disease.

Speaking on how Nigeria was able to successfully stop the killer disease, Frieden said: “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.”