According to reports, following new cases of
the Ebola virus in Spain, researchers are
looking to Nigeria’s utilisation of 21st Century
technology to study exactly how Africa’s most
populous country was able to contain the
deadly disease.
The Ebola outbreak hit Nigeria in July when
Patrick Sawyer, a Liberian-American, flew into
Lagos plagued by the virus, contagious and
nearing his last days. The initial outbreak
fueled health officials’ concern about the
country’s ability to control the virus. After all,
Lagos is Africa’s largest city and a major
transportation hub.
On August 8, President Goodluck Ebele
Jonathan declared a national emergency. In
response, health officials distributed
informational leaflets and posted billboards in
multiple local languages to educate Nigerian
citizens on preventive measures and virus
symptoms. Health officials immediately
understood their main priority was to track
any individual that came into contact with the
index case. Officials placed Sawyer in isolation
and started tracking down every person he had
recently come in contact with.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, all who
came in contact with Sawyer – more than 280
residents – were required to provide Nigerian
authorities with updates twice-a-day about
their current health status. Individuals who
displayed symptoms or failed to respond were
checked on by a neighborhood network or
health workers. In total, contact officials made
more than 18,500 home visits to the
potentially exposed.
Through all of this, Nigeria focused on
technology as a critical and proactive tool to
help combat the spread of the virus. Health
workers monitoring suspected cases armed
themselves with mobile phones and an
Android application that helped reduce
reporting time, which can normally take up to
12 hours. The technology decreased reporting
time to six hours before being reduced to
almost nothing.
The app and phones that made the real-time
updates possible were provided by eHealth
and Information Systems Nigeria, a Santa Ana,
Calif.-based non-profit research company that
operates in the northern Nigerian city of Kano.
A group of volunteers partnered with the
government and created Ebola Alert, which
used Facebook and Twitter to educate
Nigerians about the illness. Google Inc.’s
Nigerian unit organised training sessions for
journalists on how to use Google Trends to
identify the top questions the public had
about the disease.
Laboratory technicians conducting tests were
also given tablets to scan and upload results
to the emergency center data base. In turn,
field teams received text-message alerts on
their phones informing them of the results
immediately.
Tom Frieden, the director of the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has
publicly stated Nigeria’s “extensive response
to a single case of Ebola shows that control is
possible with rapid, focused interventions.” Dr.
Margaret Chan, the director-general of the
World Health Organisation (WHO), personally
congratulated President Jonathan on the
successful containment of the Ebola Virus
Disease in the country and for effectively
halting transmission of poliomyelitis.
After more than two months of closely
monitoring the situation, Nigerian health
officials are confident the virus has been
contained. The Nigerian government remains
strongly committed to providing guidance and
expertise to other countries that are battling
the virus.


http://www.itnewsafrica.com/2014/10/researchers-looking-to-nigeria-for-tech-to-suppress-ebola/

They should continue their research, shei we are black monkeys, dull and nothing good can come out of our country except black gold?

Useless hypocrites, when they where blabbing and discrediting every effort we made to contain the virus calling every pesticide, insecticide they wanted a situation we come kneel down and beg with oyel. God bless Nigeria, except the useless polithiefcians

brownlord:
They should continue their research, shei we are black monkeys, dull and nothing good can come out of our country except black gold?

Useless hypocrites, when they where blabbing and discrediting every effort we made to contain the virus calling every pesticide, insecticide they wanted a situation we come kneel down and beg with oyel. God bless Nigeria, except the useless polithiefcians

We did a great job this time around but I hope we can handle future threats next time

All these happened in Nigeria? Wow! It is like the op is describing a hollywood movie. It feels ironically good to know that all these happened under the 'clueless' one. Nigerians should begin to name thier children 'clueless', cause it seem the word has taken a different meaning under Jonathan.

una don de add ponmo, shaky and salt for the story abi?

iterator25:
una don de add ponmo, shaky and salt for the story abi?

Lol...That is the fact bro

Dewze:
All these happened in Nigeria? Wow! It is like the op is describing a hollywood movie. It feels ironically good to know that all these happened under the 'clueless' one. Nigerians should begin to name their children 'clueless', cause it seem the word has taken a different meaning under Jonathan.

I don't do politic bro, but Instead of coming here to pour out poo, I will rather allow my vote do it for me comes 2015

They will have to look for it till eternity Tech? Tell me another story.

Btw do you mean technology or technique?

I'ld advise them to look for the latter.

Exjoker:
I don't do politic bro, but Instead of coming here to pour out poo, I will rather allow my vote do it for me comes 2015

Goodluck with that.

iterator25:
una don de add ponmo, shaky and salt for the story abi?

lol. if you no fear Nigeria, who you go fear?