Attributed from the Guardian Newspaper England 

The doctor prevented the spread of Ebola in Nigeria – and paid with her life. Now we should honour her, and the other health workers whose dedication is inspirational

A candlelight vigil for Stella Ameyo Adadevoh and other Ebola victims in Abuja, Nigeria. Photograph: Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters

Last month, the Nigerian government released the 2014 National Honours award list: more than 300 people, many of them serving government officials, seemingly recognised simply because of the public office they hold, not for anything particularly honourable or heroic. An outcry followed, largely due to the absence of one name: Dr Stella Ameyo Adadevoh. A government spokesman was forced to explain that the awards are never given posthumously.

The public’s indignation was understandable: Adadevoh was the Nigerian doctor who oversaw the treatment of Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian national who brought the Ebola virus to Nigeria. She died of the virus on 19 August, one of eight fatalities out of 20 cases (each linked to Sawyer) in the country. Without her dedication, it is quite possible that the World Health Organisation would not have declared Nigeria – the most populous country in Africa – Ebola-free on Monday. The significance of her actions, and those of her hospital colleagues, cannot be overstated.

According to an account by Ada Igonoh, a young doctor who treated Sawyer – and upon whom it fell to certify him dead – Adadevoh vehemently turned down a request by Sawyer’s employers to have him discharged so he could catch a flight to Calabar, a coastal city 750km from Lagos, where he had been due to attend a conference (we are left to imagine what would have followed had Sawyer been allowed to leave Lagos for Calabar).

Igonoh says that from the moment Adadevoh suspected Sawyer might have Ebola – the Liberian had denied contact with an Ebola patient, even though his sister had died of the virus barely two weeks before his arrival in Nigeria – she quarantined him, made contact with the authorities, and ensured the provision of protective materials and Ebola educational material to hospital staff.

Adadevoh was born in Lagos in October 1956. Her father was Babatunde Adadevoh, a professor of chemical pathology and, between 1978 and 1980, the vice-chancellor of the University of Lagos. Her great-grandfather was the Nigerian nationalist Herbert Macaulay (himself the grandson of Samuel Ajayi Crowther, the first African Anglican bishop). She lived most of her life in Lagos, spending the last 21 years working at the First Consultant hospital in Obalende on Lagos Island, where a statue of Macaulay still stands today.

In a fine tribute, Nigerian journalist Simon Kolawole explained and convincingly that Adadevoh was only doing her job as a medical professional. He wrote: “There were various options in front of her when she discovered Sawyer had Ebola: one, quietly say ‘e no concern me’ and discharge him quickly to avoid contaminating the hospital; two, refer him to [Lagos University Teaching hospital], not minding the bigger consequences for the rest of Nigeria; three, act responsibly in line with the ethics of the medical profession and ‘detain’ him because of the peculiarity of the disease.”

That this needed to be pointed out at all is perhaps testimony to how unused Nigeria has become to the idea of people doing their jobs as they should. It is precisely the reason Adadevoh needs to be honoured: as a reminder that heroism can be attained as much in everyday work clothes as it can in superhero capes.

In September, the Lagos state parliament asked Governor Babatunde Fashola to rename the Infectious Diseases hospital in Lagos – where Adadevoh died – in her memory. There is still time to further recognise Adadevoh’s heroism. No doubt the biggest tribute Nigeria could ever give her would be to create a culture in which devotion and dedication to one’s vocation is habitual.

Up to until July, 2014, Nigeria had never before reported any case of Ebola virus infection within its borders. This was soon set to change when one Liberian national, Patrick Sawyer flew to Lagos, and he was already infected with the virus. Why he was not under quarantine back in Liberia, let alone how he was allowed to board an airplane and fly to Nigeria raises a lot of questions. It is reported that Sawyer’s sister had succumbed to the Ebola virus barely two weeks before his flight into Nigeria. Sawyer had also denied ever coming into contact with any Ebola patient, upon his arrival in Lagos.

It was apparent that the health officials inspecting travelers entering Nigeria through the Lagos airport would let Sawyer go.

But one heroine Dr. Stella Ameyo Adadevoh was not convinced that Sawyer was in the right health conditions to be allowed into the country. So she pushed for his detainment and quarantine.

It is said that Mr. Sawyer was required by his employer to attend a conference in Calabar, a Nigerian coastal city located some 750km away from Lagos.

At this time, Nigeria had little preparedness as far as handling cases of Ebola patients was involved. Dr. Adadevoh herself is said to have described Lagos’ rudimentary Ebola treatment center as being “uninhabitable”. However, she was still able to push successfully for the isolation and quarantine of Mr. Sawyer.

“Immediately he was very aggressive. He was more intent on leaving the hospital than anything else. He was screaming. He pulled his intravenous (tubes) and spilled the blood everywhere,” said Dr. Benjamin Ohiaeri, the Director of First Consultant Hospital.

During the initial days when Dr. Adadevoh was caring for Mr. Sawyer while waiting for the test results for his blood, she came under intense pressure demanding she let him leave. She faced threats of catastrophic consequences should she further detain Mr. Sawyer.

Dr. Ohiaeri said, “The Liberian ambassador started calling Dr. Adadevoh, putting pressure on her and the institution. He felt we were kidnapping the gentleman and said it was a denial of his fundamental rights, and we could face further actions.”

Despite all the threats being issued, the hospital management trusted Dr. Adadevoh’s judgment and did not give into the threats and pressure. It later turned out that Dr. Adadevoh was right all along and that Mr. Sawyer was indeed infected and a health risk to the general public. He succumbed to the virus and died from Ebola while at the hospital. But sadly, twelve health officials at the hospital including Dr. Adadevoh who were attending to him had contracted the Ebola virus from him.

It was confirmed on August 4th that Dr. Adadevoh tested positive for the Ebola virus. Nigeria then revamped its Ebola virus preparedness and opened a better-equipped health facility in Lagos. Dr. Adadevoh and all her colleagues who had contracted the virus from Sawyer were now placed under quarantine.

Dr Adadevoh’s only son, Bankole Cardoso said, “On the first day I was able to come close and at least stand by the window and have a conversation with her, the second day the same thing. I took her things to make her comfortable – towels and slippers and then suddenly the next day I couldn’t even go near the window.”

At this point, the health officials had imposed stricter rules on quarantined Ebola patients.

“As every day went on she was there – it appeared she may pull through and on my birthday on a Sunday it was the most optimistic day. Then on the Monday we went in and the whole story had changed, they called us into a room and just explained that this is exactly what is going to happen and it’s not even a matter of days anymore. It might be hours,” said Cardoso.

Dr. Adadevoh died on August 19; one of the eight fatalities out of the 20 cases all linked to Mr. Sawyer. Were it not for the heroic action of Dr. Adadevoh, Nigeria – the most populous African country would not have been declared Ebola free by the World Health Organization so soon after the first reported case of Ebola virus infection.

Had Dr. Adadevoh not taken it upon herself to quarantine Mr. Sawyer despite the standard safety precautions in Nigeria at the time not showing any reasons for the isolation of the passenger. Had she given into the threats and pressure mounted on her to release Mr. Sawyer. Had she not risked her own life by attending to a suspected Ebola patient for the sake of the general public. Nigeria would have been another case of horrifying statistics of the Ebola Outbreak 2014.

For the selfless and heroic actions demonstrated by the late Dr. Adadevoh, she has been recognized by The LSDP Top 100 Global Thinkers of 2014. This recognition is just not for the brave and selfless act demonstrated by the late Dr. Adadevoh but for setting an example that people should do their jobs as required of them. She is the embodiment that heroism can be achieved through our daily chores and in our normal work clothes, just as much as it can be achieved in superhero capes.

The first human trial of an experimental vaccine against Ebola suggests that it is safe and may help the immune system to combat the virus.

Twenty volunteers were immunised in the United States. Scientists at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) described the results as "promising".

The research is published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

None of those immunised suffered major side-effects and all produced antibodies.

Dr Anthony Fauci of the NIH told the BBC: "On safety and on the ability to produce an appropriate immune response we can call this trial an unqualified success, even though it was an early Phase One trial."

The volunteers were divided into two groups, receiving either a low or high dose. The antibody response was stronger among those receiving the higher dose.

The investigators found that seven of the high dose and two of the lose dose volunteers produced T-cell immune responses, which may be important in protection against Ebola viruses.

The vaccine uses a chimpanzee cold virus which has been genetically engineered to carry a non-infectious Ebola protein on its surface.

A health worker in Conakry, Guinea, wearing protective clothing to treat victims

There are four trials underway of this experimental vaccine.

The US vaccine is bivalent - aimed at giving protection against the Sudan and Zaire strains of Ebola. It is the latter which is responsible for the current outbreak.

Trials of a monovalent vaccine - against the Zaire strain - are also underway in Oxford, Mali and Switzerland.

If these also yield positive results then the monovalent vaccine will be offered to thousands of health workers in west Africa.

Dr Fauci said: "It will be this large Phase Two / Three trial in west Africa which will show whether the vaccine works and is really safe."

He added: "If the outbreak is still is still going on six months from now and the vaccine at that point is shown to be effective, it could have a very positive impact on the current epidemic."

But he said the long-term aim was to produce a vaccine which would protect against future outbreaks.

If the vaccine does work, it is unclear how long the protection would last.

Indemnity agreement

These kinds of questions are usually settled during the early stages of human trials.

But such is the pressing humanitarian need for something which protects against Ebola, the whole trial process is being accelerated at unprecedented speed.

In an editorial in the NEJM Dr Daniel Bausch said that while the trial left many questions unanswered, an Ebola vaccine was "one step closer".

The experimental vaccine is being manufactured by the British drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).

The company says it can produce one million doses a month by the end of 2015.

This will require a significant financial outlay. It is asking for an indemnity agreement in case problems such as unforeseen side effects were to emerge in the future.

GSK's chief executive Sir Andrew Witty told the BBC: "We are not waiting for that to be settled [but] it is obvious there are some risks that companies should not be expected to carry on their own."

By Fergus Walsh