The UN’s World Health Organization has officially declared Senegal to be free of Ebola. The country’s first and only case was confirmed at the end of August in a patient who had entered the country from Guinea.

After confirming the case, Senegal's government rolled out a response plan that included “identifying and monitoring 74 close contacts of the patient, prompt testing of all suspected cases, stepped-up surveillance at the country’s many entry points.” That differs just slightly from the CDC’s Ebola response plan, which is best characterized as “Uh, just do whatever and go anywhere.”

As The New York Times explains, the declaration of an outbreak’s end comes at the close of a 42-day monitoring period (twice the length of the virus’s incubation period) in which no new cases are found. Nigeria, where 20 people contracted the virus and 8 of whom have died, is set to reach the 42-day milestone on Monday.

According to WHO figures, more than 4,500 patients have died from Ebola, out of 9,216 cases.

[Photo Credit: AP Images]