--- title: Ebola Poll: How Scared Are You About Ebola? description: As the Ebola epidemic continues in West Africa, the U.S. and other countries could also see cases of the disease in coming weeks and months. canonical: https://time.com/3532498/ebola-worry-fear/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-23T13:50:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:05:27.486Z article:section: Health og:title: Take the TIME Ebola Poll: Ebola Poll: How Scared Do You Feel About the Virus? og:description: As the Ebola epidemic continues in West Africa, the U.S. and other countries could also see cases of the disease in coming weeks and months. og:url: https://time.com/3532498/ebola-worry-fear/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd33de08efc3e1800/6987625e06f2c1d9c23318a0/h_515428113.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Electron micrograph of Ebola virus og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Take the TIME Ebola Poll: Ebola Poll: How Scared Do You Feel About the Virus? twitter:description: As the Ebola epidemic continues in West Africa, the U.S. and other countries could also see cases of the disease in coming weeks and months. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd33de08efc3e1800/6987625e06f2c1d9c23318a0/h_515428113.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Worried Are You About Ebola? > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=168bed2b-2ff5-4108-bc6a-88d0754f9465&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Nigeria is an Ebola Success Story: Here's What The Country Did Right [Watch (HLS stream): Nigeria is an Ebola Success Story: Here's What The Country Did Right](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/mSo7iFZ3.m3u8) (2:43)  _Published 2014-10-21. The World Health Organization declared Nigeria free of Ebola on Monday, a containment victory in an outbreak that has stymied other countries’ response efforts._  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Oct 23, 2014 1:50 PM UTC  epa04374858 An image provided on 28 August 2014 by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases shows a scanning electron micrograph of Ebola virus budding from the surface of a Vero cell of an African green monkey kidney epithelial cell line. EPA/NIAID / HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY / NO SALES epa04374858 An image provided on 28 August 2014 by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases shows a scanning electron micrograph of Ebola virus budding from the surface of a Vero cell of an African green monkey kidney epithelial cell line. EPA/NIAID / HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY / NO SALES NIAID/EPA  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Oct 23, 2014 1:50 PM UTC Tell us how you feel about the U.S.’s efforts to contain Ebola in this 10 question survey, and see how other responders rate the country’s preparedness. ## Transcript Africa's most populous country, Nigeria, is free of Ebola after it went 42 straight days with no new cases reported. As the epidemic rages out of control in neighboring Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone, how did Nigeria become an Ebola success story? [ MUSIC ] Declaring an emergency right away. When Nigeria had its first confirmed case of Ebola, the government declared a national public health emergency immediately. That means that strict procedures for treating patients and screening people were quickly put into place. For example, local health workers paid $ 18, 500 face to face visits to take the temperatures of nearly 900 people who had contact with Ebola patients. Training local doctors. The World Health Organization and Doctors Without Borders trained local doctors on how to treat patients effectively. But the country posed a unique challenge as the number of people living in Lagos is around 21 million. That's almost as large as the populations of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone combined. How can the disease be contained under such circumstances? The answer, high quality contact tracing by experienced epidemiologists. With the help of GPS systems and daily mapping, government officials reached 100 % of known contacts in Lagos and placed them in isolation wards. Managing Fear. Nigeria used social media and televised campaigns to reach its 174 million residents. To prevent panic, the country showcased patients who were successfully treated, and produced awareness campaigns on the disease. From national TV appearances by the president, to an online campaign starting Nigerian actors. No effort was spared to reassure the country's vast population. 0800 EBOLA HELP now. Keeping borders open. Nigeria made the decision of keeping it's frontiers open to travelers from Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea. Saying that closing the borders would only hurt commercial activities in the countries whose economies were already struggling due to Ebola. At the same time effective screening procedures checked incoming visitors. The average number of travelers screened each day reached more than 16, 000. Even though the outbreak was contained Nigeria is now slowing down its training and preparation procedures in case there are new cases. 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