On August 29, 2014, The Minister of Health officially announced the First Ebola virus disease case in Senegal. It was related to a 21-year-old national from Guinea, who had been in contact in Guinea with members of his family who had contracted the disease and eventually passed away. He entered Senegal by road, before the second restricted access of frontiers on August 22. He had used an overnight public transport vehicle from August 13 through 14 in order to reach Dakar. At that time, and all along his trip, he had presented no single fever-type symptom. Three days after his arrival, he started showing signs of fever, vomiting and diarrhea with no bleeding, and then decided to consult in a suburban health centre where he had been taken in charge for three days. Due to persisting symptoms, he approached the infectious diseases service at Fann University Hospital, where he was subsequently hospitalized. During all those consultations, he had never informed practitioners as regards the contacts he likely had with other people affected by the Ebola virus disease. Senegal had been alerted by some WHO authorities based in Guinea that a contact-case had probably travelled to Senegal; the investigation undertaken revealed that it was related to the patient hospitalized at the Fann Hospital Infectious Disease Service. He was then immediately placed in an isolation room and some fluid samples were gathered. On August 28, the test operated on the blood sample by the Dakar Pasteur Institute returned as Zaire-Ebola-virus-positive. The investigations undertaken helped identify 74 individuals who had been in contact with the patient (34 in his family and 40 health workers). The reopening of the interrogation of both the patient and his caretaker, with a focus on their itinerary, facilitated the identification of all the family members and the health centre staff. At the level of the hospital, the patient's record was reviewed, along with the list of all personnel on duty. This helped identify all individuals who had been in contact with the patient or his biological samples. All the contacts were put in quarantine inside their homes and were monitored twice a day by the medical district teams in their respective areas, conducting temperature checks and patient questioning. Senegal, since the declaration of the outbreak in Guinea, had implemented a three-step response plan: pre-epidemic, epidemic and post-epidemic. Since the month of March, the National Committee for Epidemics Administration has held weekly meetings in order to implement the pre-epidemic phase activities. This is a permanent committee meeting anytime a threatening epidemic situation occurs in Senegal.
During the pre-epidemic phase, all activities essentially deal with the communication of health workers to populations, the training of healthcare personnel, the capacity-building of healthcare workers and the reinforcement of frontiers surveillance. As soon as the case was signified, the epidemic phase was launched and ten commissions were implemented adding to the National Committee for Epidemics Management. A coordination committee supervised by the Healthcare Executive Director including commission presidents and their reporters, along with some partners would meet every morning. The multi-sectorial approach was used as a guide for the commissions' implementation. Epidemiological Investigation and Surveillance Commission: in charge of the monitoring of the 74 contact cases and alert management; social Intervention and Behavior Commission: in charge of the patient's and contacts' psychosocial care; media and Communication Commission: in charge of all aspects dealing with communication; patients' Clinic Care and Infection Control Commission: in charge of the monitoring of the patient's care and also the supervision of healthcare structures; logistics Commission: in charge of the management of all necessary products, facilities and material; security Commission: in charge of patients and contacts security and frontier surveillance; research and ethical aspects commission: in charge of all research and ethical issues related to the epidemic: hygiene and Sanitation Commission: in charge of the decontamination and sanitation healthcare sites; fund-raising Commission: in charge financial resources management. Mobile Intervention Commission: in charge of the transportation and the sampling of all suspect cases.