WHO Set to declare Nigeria EBOLA Free in 6 Days

Nigeria and Senegal could be declared Ebola-free within days after completing a 42-day period with no new cases, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday.

"If the active surveillance for new cases that is currently in place continues, and no new cases are detected, WHO will declare the end of the outbreak of Ebola virus disease in Senegal on Friday 17 October," the WHO said in a statement.

For Nigeria, the date is next Monday, Oct 20.

Senegal had one patient who was confirmed to have Ebola but he recovered and appears not to have infected anyone else.

In Nigeria, one traveller from Liberia triggered an outbreak in which eight people died, most of them health workers, before it could be contained.

But in the three worst affected countries, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, "new cases continue to explode in areas that looked like they were coming under control," WHO said.

"An unusual characteristic of this epidemic is a persistent cyclical pattern of gradual dips in the number of new cases, followed by sudden flare-ups."

WHO says that waiting for 42 days from the time when the last person with high risk exposure tests negative for the virus gives sufficient confidence to declare an outbreak over.

http://af.reuters.com/article/nigeriaNews/idAFL6N0S95A320141014