Google doodle is celebrating Nigeria’s Ebola hero, Dr Stella Adadevoh who died while curbing the spread of the deadly virus in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital.
It’s Dr. Adadevoh 62nd posthumous birthday and Google is celebrating her with an illustration on their homepage in Nigeria.
She is credited with having curbed a wider spread of the Ebola virus in Nigeria by placing the patient zero, Patrick Sawyer, in quarantine despite pressures from the Liberian government.
She is known for preventing the Nigerian index case from leaving the hospital at the time of diagnosis, thereby playing a key role in curbing the spread of the virus in Nigeria.
On 4 August 2014, it was confirmed that she had tested positive for Ebola virus disease and was being treated.
Dr. Adadevoh died in the afternoon of 19 August 2014. She was survived by her husband Afolabi and son Bankole among other relatives.
She correctly diagnosed Liberian Sawyer as Nigeria’s first case of Ebola at First Consultant Hospital in Lagos, Nigeria in July 2014.
Dr. Adadevoh kept Patrick Sawyer at hospital despite his insistence that he had a bad case of Malaria. Sawyer wanted to attend a business conference in Calabar, Nigeria.
She led the team who oversaw the treatment of Patrick Sawyer a Liberian, the first patient diagnosed with Ebola in Nigeria.
Dr. Adadevoh also kept Patrick Sawyer at the hospital despite receiving a request from a Liberian ambassador to release him from the hospital.
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She tried to create an isolation area, despite the lack of protective equipment, by creating a wooden barricade outside Sawyer’s door.
Her heroic effort saved the nation from widespread infection, as of these events, Nigerian Doctors were on strike, and that could have caused severe crises.
The professionalism and thorough medical examination carried out by Dr. Adadevoh was impeccable as she also provided staff with relevant information about the virus, procured protective gear and quickly contacted relevant officials.
As a result of her report, the Nigerian government declared a national public health emergency and the Nigerian Ministry of Health set up an Ebola Emergency Operations Center. WHO declared Nigeria to be Ebola free on October 20, 2014.
A Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google’s homepages that commemorates holidays, events, achievements, and people.
The first Google Doodle honored the Burning Man festival in 1998, and was designed by Larry Page and Sergey Brin to notify users of their absence in case the servers crashed.
