Ebola in Nigeria

Cases of the Ebola virus disease in Nigeria were reported in 2014 as a small part of the epidemic of Ebola virus disease (commonly known as Ebola) which originated in Guinea that represented the first outbreak of the disease in a West African country. Previous outbreaks had been confined to countries in Central Africa.

Cause

The Ebola virus is the cause of Ebola virus disease (EVD), also known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever. Ebola virus disease is a serious sickness that frequently results in death. In 2014, Nigeria saw its first ever outbreak of Ebola, which was the first time the virus has been reported in the country. The first known case of the sickness occurred in Nigeria in July of 2014, when a Liberian-American man who had been infected with the virus in Liberia and then traveled to Nigeria before succumbing to the illness. After that, the virus spread throughout Nigeria, where there are now a total of 20 confirmed cases and eight deaths.

Response

The Nigerian government and international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) swiftly responded to the outbreak by putting into action measures to contain the spread of the virus and providing medical care to those who were afflicted with it. These steps included the locating and isolating of cases, the tracking down of potential contacts, and the establishment of infection control standards in medical facilities.

Nigeria Map Ebola 2014

National emergency

A national Ebola emergency operations center was also built by the government of Nigeria alongside an incident management system for the purpose of coordinating the response to the breakout of the virus. Technical assistance and supplies were supplied by the World Health Organization (WHO) and other partners, including personal protective equipment and laboratory reagents.

Difficulties

In spite of the prompt response and the swift adoption of containment measures, the Ebola outbreak in Nigeria brought to light the difficulties associated with preventing the further spread of the virus in a community that is both highly populated and extremely mobile. There were other cases of nosocomial transmission, which means that the virus was spread within healthcare facilities. The earliest cases weren't discovered until several weeks following the index case. Traditional burial customs, which included washing and touching of the deceased, as well as cultural opposition to some of the containment methods, further exacerbated the outbreak and added an additional layer of difficulty.

Control

However, after a few months, the Nigerian government and its allies were able to bring the outbreak under control and bring it under control quickly. The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed on the 20th of October 2014 that Ebola had been eradicated from Nigeria. It was stated that there were a total of 20 confirmed cases, including 8 fatalities.

Lessons

The recent epidemic of Ebola in Nigeria serves as a useful reminder of the need of being well-prepared and having a rapid response rate in the fight against and containment of the virus's further spread. The experience also underlined the necessity of including local populations in the response to an outbreak and the relevance of taking into account cultural and societal variables.

References

1. World Health Organization. (2014). Ebola virus disease in Nigeria: WHO situation report - 29 October 2014. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/csr/don/29-october-2014-ebola/en/
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014). Ebola in Nigeria. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/nigeria/index.html
3. Al Jazeera. (2014). Nigeria declares end to Ebola outbreak. Retrieved from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2014/10/nigeria-declares-end-ebola-outbreak-201410205544490439.html
4. Okwaraji, E. (2015). Nigeria's Ebola outbreak: A case study in public health emergency management. Journal of Public Health in Africa, 6(1), 1-8.

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