The Vietnamese Ministry of Health continues warning its agencies and departments to be on full alert for the possible entry of the deadly virus Ebola, particularly at border gates, Director of the Ministry’s Preventive Medicine Department Tran Dac Phu said on October 14.
He said it was a top priority to strictly supervise people entering Vietnam from Ebola-affected areas, especially medical staff, adding that the ministry would run more communication campaigns, equip laboratories with all the necessary facilities, and command localities to prepare for the disease.
This comes at a time when Ebola’s developments in Western Africa are becoming more and more complicated. Phu said the World Health Organisation (WHO) reckons it could take six to nine months to contain the epidemic.
An urgent meeting was held on October 13 with international experts, who said the virus was still raging across the West African countries of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, resulting in 8,376 patients and 4,024 deaths so far. Meanwhile, Spain and the US have recorded two Ebola patients, the first cases outside of the virus-affected region.
Representatives from the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explained that there is no scientific evidence for the transmission of Ebola through the air. They warned that Ebola could enter the country via passengers travelling to Vietnam from the affected region.
At the meeting, CDC and WHO experts spoke highly of the Southeast Asian country’s timely and comprehensive preparations in anticipation of the disease.
Participants agreed on the need to regularly give updates on all the Ebola-related information published by the WHO and CDC.
Vietnam was asked to continue to keep a close look on its ports of entry and the communities where expats from Congo, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Senegal live.
The country was told to intensify training and personal protective measures at medical establishments and expand communication efforts.
Experts said with the assistance of the WHO and Japan the country was now capable of testing for Ebola.
Ebola is a severe acute viral illness often characterised by the sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headaches and a sore throat. These syptoms are followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, skin rashes, impaired kidney and liver functions, and in some cases, internal and external bleeding.
The virus is transmitted via close contact with an infected person’s bodily fluids such as sweat, blood and tissue.
No cases of Ebola infections have been reported in Vietnam so far.-VNA
He said it was a top priority to strictly supervise people entering Vietnam from Ebola-affected areas, especially medical staff, adding that the ministry would run more communication campaigns, equip laboratories with all the necessary facilities, and command localities to prepare for the disease.
This comes at a time when Ebola’s developments in Western Africa are becoming more and more complicated. Phu said the World Health Organisation (WHO) reckons it could take six to nine months to contain the epidemic.
An urgent meeting was held on October 13 with international experts, who said the virus was still raging across the West African countries of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, resulting in 8,376 patients and 4,024 deaths so far. Meanwhile, Spain and the US have recorded two Ebola patients, the first cases outside of the virus-affected region.
Representatives from the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explained that there is no scientific evidence for the transmission of Ebola through the air. They warned that Ebola could enter the country via passengers travelling to Vietnam from the affected region.
At the meeting, CDC and WHO experts spoke highly of the Southeast Asian country’s timely and comprehensive preparations in anticipation of the disease.
Participants agreed on the need to regularly give updates on all the Ebola-related information published by the WHO and CDC.
Vietnam was asked to continue to keep a close look on its ports of entry and the communities where expats from Congo, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Senegal live.
The country was told to intensify training and personal protective measures at medical establishments and expand communication efforts.
Experts said with the assistance of the WHO and Japan the country was now capable of testing for Ebola.
Ebola is a severe acute viral illness often characterised by the sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headaches and a sore throat. These syptoms are followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, skin rashes, impaired kidney and liver functions, and in some cases, internal and external bleeding.
The virus is transmitted via close contact with an infected person’s bodily fluids such as sweat, blood and tissue.
No cases of Ebola infections have been reported in Vietnam so far.-VNA
