WHO declares Senegal Ebola-free but cautions about its vulnerability

Geneva, Oct 18: The World Health Organisation (

) on Friday declared the West African nation of Senegal as

-free, a rare success in dealing with the epidemic that has run amok in three of its neighbouring countries and posed a threat to the entire world.

The world health body praised Senegal for his determination to end the transmission of the deadly virus. It said the authorities reacted quickly after the country faced an imported case of Ebola and stopped the disease from spreading.

The WHO said the Senegalese government responded by identifying and monitoring 74 close contacts of the patient who went to Dakar from Guinea, which along with Liberia and Sierra Leone, have been among the countries worst hit by the Ebola virus.

The WHO, however, has cautioned that Senegal's geographic location could still make it vulnerable to more imported cases of Ebola virus.

Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, also appeared close to declaring itself Ebola-free on Friday.

According to the WHO's latest estimates, Ebola has so far claimed over 4,500 lives while more than 9,200 have been infected.

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