The Vietnamese Embassy in Mozambique has alerted the Vietnamese people living the south-eastern African country to Ebola, the deadly virus reaping panic across West Africa and likely spreading to other areas in the continent.

The death toll from the Ebola outbreak on August 4 reached 887, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Most of the cases were in four western African countries of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.

Through online talks with the Vietnamese people residing in 10 provinces in Mozambique, Ambassador Nguyen Van Trung urged the community to keep themselves constantly updated with the latest developments of the outbreak and promptly take preventive measures.

Early this month, the Preventive Medicine Department of the Vietnam Ministry of Public Health has issued a warning of Ebola, advising people to ensure personal hygiene and avoid direct or close contact with infected patients and animals, particularly with their bodily fluids.

According to WHO, Ebola spreads in the community through human-to-human transmission, with infection resulting from direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and indirect contact with environments contaminated with such fluids.

As a severe acute viral illness, Ebola is often characterised by the sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding.

No licensed vaccine for Ebola is available. Several vaccines are being tested, but none are available for clinical use, according to WHO.- VNA