This week, as one patient in Texas was diagnosed with Ebola and another patient in D.C. appears to be displaying potential Ebola symptoms, Americans are on high alert about the potential spread of the deadly virus.
Republican lawmakers are already accusing President Obama of not doing enough to counteract a future outbreak on American soil.
But, amid the ominous headlines about Ebola, there’s one piece of good news about the virus that’s gone largely overlooked: This week, health officials announced that Nigeria appears to have contained the virus within its borders.
“For those who say it’s hopeless, this is an antidote — you can control Ebola,” Dr. Thomas Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told reporters this week.
In the middle of July, a sick traveler from Liberia — the heart of the current Ebola outbreak — arrived in Lagos, which is the most populous city in Nigeria and home to an international airport. He exposed more than 70 people at the airport before officials realized he had Ebola. Then, he died. The government quickly went on high alert. Considering the fact that Lagos is such a transportation hub, the threat was significant.
