Ebola Virus Outbreak 2014 Cases & News: Nigeria Ebola Free!

Nigeria is now free of Ebola virus, the disease that claimed thousands of lives in West Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared.

According to an Agence France Presse report, WHO says that Nigeria's ability to contain the spread of the virus was a "spectacular success."

Rui Gama Vaz, WHO's representative to Nigeria, was quoted saying that the Ebola is "gone for now" as the outbreak has already been defeated. 

The latest data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that eight deaths out of the 20 total cases have been recorded in Nigeria. Meanwhile, a total of 4,546 deaths have already been recorded in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

In the U.S., at least one death was recorded. The victim was a Liberian man named Thomas Eric Duncan who just died this month. Two other cases have been recorded in the country and they were identified as Nina Pham and Amber Vinson who are Dallas hospital nurses. Pham and Vinson both contracted the disease while treating Duncan.

One Ebola case was also recorded in Senegal and another one in Spain, CDC website said. However, AFP said that Senegal was also declared Ebola-free last Friday.

Nigeria, known to be the most populous country in Africa, has been declared Ebola-free after no new cases of hemorrhagic fever have been recorded for more than 40 days, AFP said. There are at least 170 people in the said country. 

A separate AFP report said the patient who was admitted at the Emory University Healthcare in Atlanta, Georgia was released on October 19. The patient, however, requested to be unnamed in reports. AFP said that he has already left the hospital and is in now an undisclosed location. He is the third patient in the U.S. who recovered from the disease. The two others who were also treated at Emory were Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol. Two were treated in Nebraska -- missionary doctor Rick Sacra and photojournalist Ashoka Mukpo.

Meanwhile, another staff of the United Nations in Sierra Leone has died from the virus, a report published by AFP said. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the man who acts as driver for the UN Women agency died on weekend while his spouse is currently being treated. The man was identified as Edmond Bangura-Sesay.

A trust fund has already been provided to deal with Ebola emergency. Several countries such as Australia, Chile, Estonia, Finland, India, Kazakhstan, New Zealand, Norway and Romania have already donated. The trust fund now has more than $43 million, AFP said. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has urged countries to continue donating. UN is aiming to collect at least $1 billion from the international community.