Nigeria has been declared Ebola-free in a “spectacular success” in the battle to contain the spread of a virus that is devastating Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
The World Health Organization said Nigeria – Africa’s most populous country where eight deaths had sparked fears of a rapid spread through its teeming cities – had shown the world “that Ebola can be contained”.
Another west African nation, Senegal, was declared free of the virus on Friday.
European Union foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg said the bloc must step up efforts to contain Ebola and prevent it becoming a global threat.
Amid concerns that the global response has been too slow, the 28 EU nations agreed to do more to get foreign medical staff onto the Ebola frontline.
They also agreed to appoint an Ebola co-ordinator, to be named in coming days.
In the United States, the absence of any new cases in the last five days prompted cautious optimism from health authorities that the virus has been contained there after a flawed initial response.
In another encouraging piece of news, test results showed a Spanish nurse who was the first person to contract the virus outside Africa appears to now be clear of the disease after treatment.
But while the rest of the world appeared to be winning the fight to keep Ebola at bay, the three west African countries that account for the vast majority of the 4500 deaths – Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea – were counting a rising human and economic cost.
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf warned on Sunday that a generation of Africans was at risk of “being lost to economic catastrophe” because of the crisis.
The “time for talking or theorising is over,” she said in an open letter published by the BBC.
“This fight requires a commitment from every nation that has the capacity to help – whether that is with emergency funds, medical supplies or clinical expertise.”
– AP
