WHO congratulates Senegal on ending Ebola transmission

WHO officially declares the Ebola outbreak in Senegal over and commends the country on its diligence to end the transmission of the virus.

The introduced case was confirmed on 29 August in a young man who had travelled to Dakar, by road, from Guinea, where he had had direct contact with an Ebola patient.

Senegal’s response is a good example of what to do when faced with an imported case of Ebola. The government, under leadership of President Macky Sall and the Minister of Health Dr Awa Coll-Seck, reacted quickly to stop the disease from spreading.

The government’s response plan included identifying and monitoring 74 close contacts of the patient, prompt testing of all suspected cases, stepped-up surveillance at the country’s many entry points and nationwide public awareness campaigns.

WHO treated this case as a public health emergency and immediately dispatched a team of epidemiologists to work alongside staff from the Ministry of Health, and other partners, including Médecins sans Frontières and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

On 5 September, laboratory samples from the patient tested negative, indicating that he had recovered from Ebola virus disease. He returned to Guinea on 18 September.

Senegal has maintained a high level of active “case finding” for 42 days – twice the maximum incubation period of Ebola virus disease – to detect possible unreported cases of infection.

While the outbreak is now officially over, Senegal’s geographical position makes the country vulnerable to additional imported cases of Ebola virus disease. It continues to remain vigilant for any suspected cases by strict compliance with WHO guidelines.

• The outbreak of Ebola virus disease in Senegal is over
  Situation assessment - 17 October 2014

For more information, contact:

Fadéla Chaib
Communications Officer, World Health Organization
Telephone: +41 22 791 32 28
Mobile: +41 79 475 55 56
E-mail: chaibf@who.int

Tarik Jasarevic
WHO Department of Communications
Telephone: +41 22 791 50 99
Mobile: +41 79 367 62 14
E-mail: jasarevict@who.int

Senegal: Officially Ebola-Free

Here's what the West African nation's apparent triumph over the virus could tell us about containing it.

ADAM CHANDLEROCT 17 2014, 12:42 PM ET

Jane Hahn/AP

On Friday, as the White House made the essentially symbolic gesture of appointing a "czar" to contain the American outbreak, some 4,000 miles to the east, Senegal was declared free of Ebola by the World Health Organization. In a statement, the U.N. agency praised the West African country's response as "a good example of what to do when faced with an imported case of Ebola."
So how did Senegal, which neighbors Guinea—one of the countries hardest hit by the largest Ebola outbreak on record—manage to successfully contain the deadly virus? Here's how Ebola coursed into and then out of Senegal:
On August 29, the first case of Ebola was confirmed after a student, despite a closed border, traveled by road from Guinea to a hospital in the Senegalese capital of Dakar. According to The Guardian, the man sought treatment, but did not disclose that he might have Ebola. "The next day, an epidemiological surveillance team in Guinea told Senegalese authorities that they had lost track of a person who had had contact with sick people."
After the student was tracked to the hospital in Dakar, according to AP reports, Senegal's response next involved "identifying and monitoring 74 close contacts of the patient, prompt testing of all suspected cases, stepped-up surveillance at many entry points and public awareness campaigns."
Also of note, the high level of communication between the federal authorities and local leadership as well as the considered monitoring of those in contact with the patient. As Lauren Silva Laughlin wrote in Fortune:

All contacts, including health care workers, were subjected to 21-day monitoring. This included in-home voluntary quarantine. They were seen twice daily by Red Cross volunteers. Symptoms and thttp://ebolavirusfight.blogspot.com/Senegal: Officially Ebola- freeemperatures were recorded twice daily. Food was provided.

She adds that for those contacts who sought to avoid working with the Red Cross, local hospitals were brought in, which was said to have boosted compliance.
The WHO did give this caveat in its statement on Friday: "While the outbreak is now officially over, Senegal's geographical position makes the country vulnerable to additional imported cases of Ebola virus disease."
Nevertheless, as the country garners praise for its response, a national effort to train health workers before the first Ebola case was even confirmed leaves the country well-poised to handle any future cases.
Senegal isn't the only success case. Nigeria, which has had nearly two dozen Ebola cases and a handful of deaths, is also said to be nearly free of Ebola. Should things hold steady there until Monday, it will also be declared Ebola-free.