09 Sep 2014

Okavango public health specialist, Dr Kanyinda Muya has appealed to all stakeholders in the sub-district to come up with strategic plans to prepare for any incidents of Ebola that can occur. 

Addressing head of departments and NGOs in Gumare, Dr Muya emphasised the need for the stakeholders to work as a team to sensitise the public about the epidemic.

He said Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever (Ebola HF) is one of numerous viral hemorrhagic fevers, adding that the first Ebola virus species was discovered in 1976 in the DRC near the Ebola River.

Ebola is severe, often a fatal disease in humans and non-human primates such as monkeys, gorillas and chimpanzees and is caused by infection with a virus of the family filoviridae, genus Ebolavirus, he said. 

He noted that the 2014 Ebola outbreak, is one of the largest outbreaks in the history and the first in West Africa and it is affecting six countries in West Africa namely, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, Senegal and DRC.

He said since then, the disease has claimed 1552 and its symptoms and transmission include contact with body fluids of someone who is visibly sick with the disease, contact with the body of someone who has died from Ebola, and contact with an animal that is carrying the virus such as bats and monkeys. 

Dr Muya said to control the spread of Ebola, health workers must wear gloves, isolating infected individuals among them and dead bodies should be put into bags and buried outside the village. He urged them to report any questionable illnesses to health officials, police, or dikgosi at their respective villages. 

“Please share the information with the public, because we will be safer when more people know about this,” he said. He said government is working tirelessly to put stringent measures to prevent and control any incidents of such a disease. The meeting suggested that nurses be sent to Mohembo and Dobe border posts as a way of controlling the spread of Ebola into the country.

They also identified the Gumare air-strip as a quarantine centre for suspected cases and advised health officials to sensitise BDF authorities concerning the issue to spread the message to officers patrolling the borders. ENDS