title: Nigerian response to the 2014 Ebola viral disease outbreak: lessons and cautions.
abstract: The Ebola virus disease outbreak that initially hit Guinea, Liberia and Senegal in 2014 was projected to affect Nigeria very badly when the first case was reported in July 2014. However, the outbreak was effectively and swiftly contained with only eight deaths out of 20 cases, confounding even the most optimistic predictions of the disease modelers. A combination of health worker and public education, a coordinated field epidemiology and laboratory training program (with prior experience in disease outbreak control in other diseases) and effective set-up of emergency operations centers were some of the measures that helped to confound the critics and contain what would have been an otherwise deadly outbreak in a densely populated country with a highly mobile population. This article highlights the measures taken in Nigeria and looks to the translatable lessons learnt for future disease outbreaks, whether that be from the Ebola virus or other infectious agents.
authors.affiliation: Excellence & Friends Management Care Centre (EFMC), Abuja, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Obinna Ositadimma
authors.initials: OO
authors.lastname: Oleribe
authors.affiliation: Hepatology Unit, Imperial College London, 10th Floor, QEQM Building, St Mary's Hospital Campus, South Wharf Road, W2 1NY, London, United Kingdom; Department of Medicine, Jos University Teaching Hospital, 2 Murtala Mohammed Way, Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Mary Margaret Elizabeth
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Crossey
authors.affiliation: Hepatology Unit, Imperial College London, 10th Floor, QEQM Building, St Mary's Hospital Campus, South Wharf Road, W2 1NY, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Simon David
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Taylor-Robinson
mesh_terms: D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000458:organization & administration; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education; D019142:Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D009549:Nigeria / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: EFMC; Ebola viral disease (EVD); Nigeria; West Africa