Within just four years, it appears Nigerians have forgotten the late female medical practitioner who sacrificed her life to avoid the outbreak of Ebola in the country which would have resulted in serial deaths
As today marks her 62nd posthumous birthday, some people have opted to remember and celebrate her bravery and sacrifice including American multinational technology company makes use of her photo as a google doodle which is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google’s home pages that commemorates holidays, events, achievements, and people.
Dr Adadevoh who is known for having prevented a wider spread of the Ebola virus in Nigeria by placing the patient who brought the Ebola Virus into Nigeria, Patrick Sawyer, in quarantine despite pressures from the Liberian government was confirmed dead on August 19, 2014, after she single-handedly stopped late Liberian-American diplomat from escaping from the hospital and further spreading the disease.
On 4 August 2014, it was confirmed that she had tested positive for the deadly virus which has no cureand she passed away on 19th August 2014.
She was posthumously honoured by Federal government for playing a key role in curbing the spread of the virus in Nigeria.
Check out the google doodle here;
Check out her biography below;
Dr. Ameyo Stella Adadevoh was the Lead Consultant Physician and Endocrinologist at a private hospital in Lagos, Nigeria where she worked for 21 years. She had never seen Ebola before but was able to diagnose and contain Nigeria’s first-ever Ebola patient in July 2014. When threatened by Liberian officials who wanted the patient to be discharged to attend a conference, she resisted the pressure and said, “for the greater public good” she would not release him.
Since Nigeria’s health system was not prepared for an outbreak at the time, she contracted Ebola and died alongside 3 of her colleagues. Her heroic efforts prevented a major outbreak in the most populous African country and served as the catalyst for successful government action to contain the spread of what would have been a major outbreak in a country of more than 190 million people.
As a result of her keen perception, courage, and steadfastness, all 20 Ebola cases in Nigeria were traced to a single path of transmission originating with the first (index) patient who took a flight from Monrovia, Liberia to Lagos. This is what differentiated the Ebola outbreak in Nigeria from the outbreaks in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, where the index patients were not initially diagnosed or contained.
The World Health Organization declared Nigeria Ebola-free on the 20th of October 2014.
Her paternal great grandfather, Herbert Samuel Macaulay, was a prominent politician and is considered to be the founding father of Nigerian nationalism. He established the first political party and his portrait is on Nigeria’s N1 (one naira) coin.
Her maternal great-uncle was Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the first President of Nigeria, a respected modern nationalist, and one of the most revered politicians in Nigerian history.
Her father, Babatunde Kwaku Adadevoh, was a renowned physician, distinguished scientist, lecturer, author, and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos. He served as a consultant and advisor to numerous international organizations such as the World Health Organization and several United Nations agencies and commissions.
