HEALTH and Childcare Minister David Parirenyatwa says government is on high alert for the risk of the Ebola virus and has put in place strategic interventions should the disease strike.
By Our Staff
This follows a warning issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday which said that West Africa’s Ebola epidemic is an “extraordinary event” and now constitutes an international health risk.
WHO says 961 people have died from Ebola in West Africa this year and warned that the virus was moving faster than the international health organisation could control it.
“Firstly, there is no outbreak in the country and the Sadc region. The risk is there but we have deployed contingency plans that cover most areas,” Parirenyatwa said.
“What is important is that we vigorously educate the population on the symptoms and what to do if you do contract it,” he said. Parirenyatwa added that government would continue training relevant staff including those stationed at all ports of entry, including airports.
Dr Rutendo Bonde of the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR) said the country’s emergency preparedness depended on support from partnerships.
“These are not autonomous, but I must applaud the health ministry on lessons learnt from the cholera outbreak of 2008 particularly in the area of disease surveillance and local level epidemiology,” she said.
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“It is the infrastructure end that will be the major letdown. Once you have identified cases, there is need for prompt case management, institutional level preparedness which is diverse from the lower end not the higher end.”
Symptoms of the disease usually commence two days to three weeks after contracting the virus, with a fever, sore throat, muscle pains and headaches.
Characteristically nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea follow, along with decreased functioning of the liver and kidneys. At this point, patients begin to have bleeding problems.
The virus may be acquired upon contact with blood or bodily fluids of an infected person or animal commonly monkeys or fruit bats.
Human consumption of equatorial animals in Africa in the form of bush meat has been connected to the spread of diseases to people, including Ebola.
