WASHINGTON: The World Health Organisation on Monday declared two major African countries, Nigeria and Senegal, Ebola free.

There was good news in the United States as well where 42 people, who came into contact with Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan, were officially cleared on Monday after not demonstrating any symptoms during a 21-day monitoring period. Officials said one more will be cleared shortly and four others will complete their 21-day monitoring period soon.

Reports of success in the fight against Ebola followed a global panic, causing health officials to warn people not to overreact.

Also read: Panic over Ebola reaches fever-pitch despite calls for calm

A country is declared Ebola free once 42 days have passed and no new case detected. The 42 days represent twice the maximum incubation period of 21 days. This 42-day period starts from the last day that any person in the country had contact with a confirmed or probable Ebola case.

Nigeria, Senegal free of disease

Ebola is still spreading rapidly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, WHO officials said. More than 4,500 people have died from the virus in West Africa, and the WHO warned that the region was still suffering from “widespread and intense transmission” because patients did not have access to adequate healthcare.

There’s a social crisis, too. Orphans of victims are often abandoned, their relatives terrified of taking them in.

ALARM IN US: Reaction in the United States is particularly severe where politicians even accused President Barack Obama of underplaying the threat because of his African origin.

In some places, officials closed schools and urged parents to take additional precautionary measures to avoid infection.

Nearly two-thirds of those queried in a Washington Post/ABC News poll said they’re concerned about an epidemic in the US. The Centres for Disease Control, in the first week of October, fielded 800 calls from concerned Americans.

In Oklahoma, public Schools asked students and faculty who were on a cruise with an Ebola suspect not to come to school.

A college in Dallas sent out rejection letters to some applicants from Nigeria because the country had a few Ebola cases.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2014