Polio Infrastructure In Nigeria Helped Prevent Spread Of Ebola - #1179

In 2014, when the epidemic of Ebola was running wild in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, a few cases of the frequently lethal hemorrhagic disease popped up in nearby Nigeria. This was scary because Nigeria is so much more populous than the other affected countries--almost 200 million people were suddenly at risk.

Health officials tapped the existing polio-fighting infrastructure in Nigeria to quickly organize an effective effort to prevent the spread of the disease there.

Dr. Tunji Funsho, chair of the PolioPlus Committee of Rotary International in Nigeria was a first-person witness to the effort. During my recent visit to Rotary headquarters in Evanston, Illinois, I visited with Tunji about the Ebola experience.

It is worth noting that fighting Ebola did not unduly distract from fighting polio. The country has now been three years without a single case of polio from the wild poliovirus.

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