The Ebola virus may have been contained
in Nigeria and Senegal, US health
authorities say, after no new cases were
reported there for almost a month.
The US Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) say the outbreak could be
declared over in Nigeria next month.
It continues, however, in other parts of
West Africa, in particular Liberia, Guinea and
Sierra Leone.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says
more than 3,000 people have died of the
virus so far, mostly in Liberia.
The current outbreak is the most deadly
Ebola outbreak in history.
The new head of the UN's Ebola response
team urged rapid progress within the next
60 days to stave off the disease.
Ebola control "possible"
The outbreaks in Nigeria and Senegal have
been far smaller than in other West African
countries, with 20 confirmed cases in total
between the two countries.
In Nigeria, Africa's most populous country,
there have been 19 confirmed cases of the
virus and eight deaths since the first
confirmed case there in July. The last
reported case in Nigeria was discovered on
5 September, the CDC said.
There was also one confirmed case in
Senegal in late August, where the infected
person survived.
Liberia has been worst-hit by Ebola,
accounting for over half the deaths
The UN warned that some children
orphaned by the outbreak risked being
"shunned"
Ebola has an incubation period of 21 days,
the CDC said. After two consecutive 21-day
periods have passed with no new cases, a
country would be able to declare an
outbreak over, it said.
Therefore, both Nigeria and Senegal will be
able to declare their outbreaks officially
over by mid-October, a CDC official said.
"Although Nigeria isn't completely out of the
woods, their extensive response to a single
case of Ebola shows that control is possible
with rapid, focused interventions" said CDC
Director Tom Frieden in a statement.
"Countries throughout the region as well as
Nigeria need to take rapid steps to prepare
for possible cases of Ebola in order to
prevent outbreaks in their country" he
added.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan
already declared the end of the virus in his
country in a speech last week, a claim
medical experts believe was premature.
Ambitious target
On Tuesday the head of a new UN body set
up to fight the disease urged more action
within the next 60 days.
"The risk of expansion is dramatic and the
number of affected people is doubling,"
Anthony Banbury told reporters in Ghana,
where the UN's Ebola response team is
based.
He said that 70% of infected people needed
to be receiving treatment and 70% percent
of burials should be done safely within two
months.
Unicef also warned on Tuesday that at least
3,700 children in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra
Leone who have lost one or both parents to
Ebola face being "shunned".
"Orphans are usually taken in by a member
of the extended family, but in some
communities the fear surrounding Ebola is
becoming stronger than family ties,"
Unicef's Manuel Fontaine said in a
statement.
http://m.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29436851