29 Oct 2014

Palapye District Health Management Team (DHMT) has identified two isolation centres for Ebola at Khurumela clinic and Martins drift border post.

Addressing a kgotla meeting at Khurumela ward in Palapye on Tuesday, October 28, Palapye hospital matron Ms Susan Pono said told the residents that their clinic will be closed soon and arrangements made for them to access health services at other clinics in Palapye.

She told the residents that Khurumela clinic was identified on the basis that it was accessed by a small number of people compared to other clinics.

She also informed the residents that Ebola was a deadly disease which required isolation centres to prevent the rapid spread of the disease.

She said Botswana just like other countries was on the alert and had prepared to protect the nation from this disease which was caused by a deadly ebola virus.

She said therefore everybody was at risk of contracting the disease.

Symptoms for ebola include fever, severe headache, muscle pain, vomiting and diarrhoea.

Residents were also informed to minimize trips to Ebola affected countries.

For her part Public Health Specialist Dr Gobusaone Morupisi encouraged the community to call Emergency Medical Services on 997 or 998 if they happened to find someone with ebola symptoms. However some residents expressed fear that the move exposed them to contracting the virus in the event of an outbreak- a fear that was dispelled by the heath specialists who assured them that maximum care would be made to protect those within the vicinity of the facility. ENDS