Measures against Ebola are intensified

The Pasteur Institute and the health department in Ho Chi Minh City on August 19 isolated two Nigerian passengers showing symptom of fever when entering Vietnam via Tan Son Nhat International Airport, according to the Preventive Medicine Centre under the Ministry of Health.

The guests, who have no other symptoms, were onboard QR964 flight from Qatar to Vietnam the same day. They left Nigeria, one of the four West African countries currently hit by the deadly virus Ebola, on August 18.

They were later taken to the isolation ward of the Tropical Hospital and had their blood samples taken for further testing.

The health ministry has advised the passengers on board the same flight and sitting near the two Nigerian passengers to go to the nearest medical stations or call 0989671115 to be guided on preventive measures.

Given the fact, the northern bordering province of Lang Son is intensifying measures against the deadly virus Ebola which is raging through West Africa in fear of its potential entry via border gates.

Besides increasing inspection to soon detect any suspect case, the province has also applied medical declaration for passengers to Vietnam from Ebola-hit areas in line with international practices.

The local health department has prepared all necessary medical equipment and human resources and intensified quarantine, while enhancing coordination with communication organs to raise public awareness of the issue.

Local authorities have built action plans to contain the disease in case of its outbreak and kept a special close watch on Vietnamese guest workers and students who have returned home from the Ebola-hit regions.

Ebola, which is caught by close contact with an infected person through bodily fluids such as sweat, blood and tissue, has killed more than 1,000 people in the current outbreak, spreading from southern Guinea to Liberia, Sierra Leone and then Nigeria, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

No infection of the virus has been reported in Vietnam so far.

Source: VNA