Senegal is now Ebola-free, according to the WHO

THE WASHINGTON POST                  Oct. 17, 2014
By Abby Ohlheiser

The World Health Organization said on Friday that the Ebola outbreak in Senegal is officially over.

Senegalese border police check papers after an aircraft carrying U.N. humanitarian personnel landed near Dakar on Sept. 27. (Seyl Lou/AFP/Getty Images)

Senegal's first and only confirmed Ebola patient traveled to the country by road from Guinea in August, bringing the virus with him. Officials confirmed his Ebola diagnosis on Aug. 29. But samples from this index patient tested negative for Ebola on Sept. 5, "indicating that he had recovered from Ebola virus disease," the WHO said in a news release.

By Sept. 18, the patient was fully recovered and returned to Guinea.

According to the WHO, Senegal officials kept track of 74 close contacts of the patient -- people who were at risk of contracting Ebola themselves. None of those contacts showed symptoms or tested positive for the disease.

Read full story
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2014/10/17/senegal-is-now-ebola-free-according-to-the-who/

Link to WHO press statement
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/statements/2014/senegal-ends-ebola/en/