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.
