Nigerian states with Ebola incidence
When the 2014 Ebola outbreak of West Africa struck Nigeria on 20th July, 2014 it was as though the end had come. By the 20th of October however, WHO had declared Nigeria Ebola-free. But in the wake of the celebrations and merriment, there had been 20 cases and 8 confirmed deaths and the disease had infiltrated 3 states. The battle against Ebola had been won, but the victors had been scarred in the process. This post details the states which were affected by Ebola and some of the events which transpired in those three nerve-wracking months.
Lagos state
Ebola first came into Nigeria through an American citizen Patrick Sawyer who had flown in from Liberia to Lagos in Nigeria. Patrick Sawyer had a sister in Liberia who had been diagnosed with Ebola. He had spent time with this sister and potentially contracted the infection from her. Sawyer had flown into Nigeria with the intent of seeking help from one of Nigeria’s miracle pastors, but the infection had proven too strong and he had collapsed at the airport before being taken to a hospital; First Consultant Hospital, Lagos. At the hospital, Dr Stella Adadevoh, who is hailed in Nigeria as the heroine of the Ebola scourge, was able to identify the virus and recommend quarantine. Sawyer was uncooperative and notably ripped off his IV tubes spilling blood everywhere. The staff were infected, among them, Dr Adadevoh, who later died.
Enugu state
One of the nurses who had had contact with the index patient; Patrick Sawyer travelled over 500km across the breadth of Nigeria from Lagos in the southwest to southeastern Enugu state where she potentially infected 21 people. The nurse and her contact were tracked and contained.
Rivers state
A diplomat who had had contact with Patrick Sawyer in Liberia travelled into Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital to see a personal physician. Unbeknownst to airport officials and the physician, the diplomat was already infected. The physician died but the situation was once again speedily contained and contacts limited.
Epidemiological tracking
Nigeria had just before the Ebola viral attack been able to eradicate guinea worm infestations as well as reduce polio occurrences to just one patient. As a country regularly producing 650,000 cases of guinea worm infestations annually, and rife with polio cases, it was a big victory made possible only by the implementation of sound techniques which leveraged on GPS technology and other novel epidemiological detective techniques. These tracking techniques came into good use in hunting down the primary, secondary and tertiary contacts.
Strong leadership
The strong leadership of the President Goodluck Jonathan, the governor of Lagos state where the index case landed, Governor Babatunde Fashola and the Federal Minister of health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu were highly instrumental in containing the spread of the disease.
Timely diagnosis
The quick diagnosis of Dr. Stella Adadevoh would remain one of the most significant efforts to containing the spread of the virus. Nigeria had not before 2014 experienced an outbreak of such magnitude and was ill-prepared for it. The index case; Sawyer, had also denied having any contact with an Ebola case and was being treated for malaria. If not for the suspicions of Dr. Adadevoh which she gave life to, containing the spread would have been more problematic.
Ebola has however been eliminated from Nigeria and no new cases have cropped up since the announcement by the WHO. However, the borders, seaports and airports remain on alert till the threat of the virus has been eliminated from all West African countries.