Malawi on the lookout for Ebola

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Ebola

The Malawi government has disclosed readiness in blocking the spread of Ebola into the country despite the human migration and geographical setting from the country that has since registered the deadly disease.

This follows reports of Ebola outbreak being registered in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Ebola
Ebola scare rages on. (Image credit ahhre.blogspot.com)

The development created tension among Malawians on what government is to do to ensure citizens are safe from the disease.

However, Malawi’s health ministry has assured the public of measures that are to help in blocking the spread of the disease into the country.

Health ministry spokesperson Adrian Chikumbe said the country is to resuscitate efforts used after the disease was reported earlier on.

“After the 2014 episode of the outbreak, we had a number of measures that we had put in place and we are to reactivate that and the surveillance system so that we can detect the virus,” said Chikumbe.

He added that the country is to ensure screening at border posts and airports as one of the measures.

Chikumbe said Malawi will also consider having quarantines and required medical equipment for the disease.

Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans.

The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission.

The average EVD case fatality rate is around 50%. Case fatality rates have varied from 25% to 90% in past outbreaks.

The first EVD outbreaks occurred in remote villages in Central Africa, near tropical rainforests. The 2014–2016 outbreak in West Africa involved major urban areas as well as rural ones.

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