Dallas County officials announced Monday that 43 people who were earlier quarantined after coming into close contact with deceased Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan are now officially cleared as their  21-day monitoring period ended.

On CNN, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, who oversees Ebola response efforts in the county, said none of the 43 showed any symptoms that could be associated with Ebola.

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Judge Jenkins said one more will be cleared later Monday, and four others will complete their monitoring period  very soon.

"Thankfully, they are all asymptomatic, and it looks like none of them will get Ebola," said Jenkins.

Among those cleared is Duncan's fiancée, Louise Troh.

"We are so happy this is coming to an end, and we are so grateful that none of us has shown any sign of illness," Troh said Sunday. "We have lost so much, but we have our lives and we have our faith in God, which always gives us hope."

CNN further reports that nurses Nina Pham and Amber Vinson, who helped care for Duncan, remain hospitalized as they battle the virus. Pham is in stable condition at a National Institutes of Health facility in Bethesda, Maryland, while Vinson is at the Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.

Vinson's family has not given permission to make her condition public.

While there is hope in the United States and in Nigeria, which was declared Ebola-free Monday, health officials report that the virus is still rapidly spreading in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The World Health Organization says more than 4,500 people have died from Ebola in West Africa. The region is still suffering from "widespread and intense transmission," according to WHO, because of the lack of access to adequate health care. 

Nigeria was  included as a territory at risk when an infected air traveler introduced the virus to Lagos in July. Eventually, Nigeria confirmed 19 Ebola cases, including seven deaths.

The WHO said an aggressive government response and effective contact tracing helped keep the virus in check. In a statement issued Monday, WHO said the Nigerian experience is proof that Ebola can be contained.

"Such a story can help the many other developing countries that are deeply worried by the prospect of an imported Ebola case," the organization said. "Many wealthy countries, with outstanding health systems, may have something to learn as well."

Nigerian health officials were able to reach 100% of known contacts in Lagos and 99.8% at the second outbreak site in Port Harcourt, WHO said. All of the identified contacts in Nigeria were physically monitored every day for 21 days. 

TagsDallas, Thomas Eric Duncan