海角大神

When Ebola reached Nigeria, health officials were worried about the populous country's ability to control the virus听鈥� particularly in Lagos, the nation鈥檚 coastal megacity and transport hub.听

But this week, teams of American health officials are Lagos-bound to learn from Nigeria's experience in defying expectations and stopping the outbreak before it could wreak havoc.

Since July 20, the day Nigeria鈥檚 so-called 鈥淧atient Zero鈥� arrived in Lagos, officials have recorded a total of only 19 cases, with no new cases since Aug. 31.听Last week, on the same day the US confirmed its first case of Ebola, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) proclaimed that Nigeria had stopped its outbreak.听

Meanwhile, Sierra Leone, one of three West African countries hard hit by Ebola,听recorded 81 new cases in the past 24 hours.听

"[B]ecause of a rapid public health response, effectively tracking nearly 900 contacts, it appears they have] been able to stop the outbreak in Nigeria,鈥� CDC Director Tom Frieden听said Sunday. 鈥淭hough we can't give the all clear yet, it does look like the outbreak is over there. I'm confident that wherever we apply the fundamental principles of infection control in public health, we can stop Ebola."

Nigeria鈥檚 success appears to be rooted in "contact tracing" 鈥� determining every single person that Patrick Sawyer, or Patient Zero, had contact with, and then monitoring them for signs of the virus.

听鈥淐ontact tracing can stop the Ebola outbreak in its tracks,鈥澨齛 chart distributed by the CDC declares.听

Now contact tracers are at work in the US,听setting out to track down as many as 100 people听who may have been exposed to Thomas Duncan, who traveled from Liberia to Dallas, where he was eventually diagnosed with the virus, The New York Times reports.听

It is an immense task.听The Washington Post outlines how it went in Nigeria:

Ethiopia, one of two countries recognized by the World Health Organization as prepared for a possible Ebola outbreak, also has听a vigorous tracing process听that applies to every visitor from West Africa.