Representatives from relevant ministries and agencies gathered at a seminar in the northern port city of Hai Phong on September 15 to popularise measures against Ebola virus which has killed more than 2,400 people in West Africa to date.
Vietnam has so far recorded no cases of Ebola infection, said deputy head of the Health Ministry’s Preventive Medicine Department Dang Quang Tan. However, he warned of a possibility that the virus could enter the country.
The health sector has applied medical declaration forms and temperature scanning of passengers from Ebola-affected regions at international border gates, while isolating those possibly exposed to the virus and taking their blood samples for further tests, he said.
The passengers will also be put under strict community surveillance within three weeks since the date they left the affected areas, he said, adding that the most effective measure is to wash hands regularly with soap or antiseptic solution.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transport said it has launched a plan against possible petechial fever caused by Ebola virus with a goal of early detecting infections in the sector, preventing the epidemic from spreading and minimising deaths.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has also issued an action plan to prevent the virus, which poses a high risk of entering the country via tourists, and at the same time encouraged Vietnamese people to travel at home.
The Ministry of Public Security affirmed that its clinics have prepared medicine, equipment, isolation areas and workforce in case of any Ebola outbreak.
Ebola can cause fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, organ failure and internal and external bleeding. The earlier the virus is detected and the symptoms are treated, the higher the chance of survival is, according to the World Health Organisation.-VNA
