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The Zimbabwe government is on high alert to prevent the Ebola virus, which has been detected in West Africa, from entering the country, a senior official said on Thursday.
The first cases of Ebola were recorded in Guinea early this year, and about 59 people have since died in that country although the disease could be confirmed in only 13 of the cases.
About eight suspected cases of Ebola were registered in Liberia, of which five had come from Guinea.
Health and Child Care deputy Minister Dr Paul Chimedza said necessary steps were being taken to prevent the Ebola virus from entering Zimbabwe.
“We are up to the situation and there is a meeting being held today by the Ministries responsible to discuss on the precautions to take and we have an institution along Beatrice Road to take care of any situation in need for a hospital isolation ward,” he said.
“The virus spreads very fast so since it is spreading in West Africa threat is always there but if anything happens we are ready and we are going to alert people who man our airports 24/7 on what to do. One victim of Ebola flying into the country can cause a spread of the virus so we are more vigilant for Ebola.”
Health care providers in West Africa are struggling to arrest the Ebola virus from reaching epidemic proportions.
In Guinea about 100 infections have already been registered, according to the country’s Ministry of Health.
Authorities are taking preventive steps to keep the virus from reaching the capital Conakry, which could be catastrophic as the city is home to about 3 million people.
Threat is on the virus crossing borders and other West African countries are also gearing up for the challenge of averting an Ebola disaster.
Medical officials were worried of the infection crossing borders, as it could also be transmitted through animals which “do not recognise borders.”
The deadly virus was first discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 1976, and since then there have been eight known outbreaks of the disease infecting over 2 000 people, with overall fatality rates of about 70 percent.
No vaccine has yet been developed for the lethal Ebola strains.
Experts are baffled that the Ebola vector, having originated from DRC in Central Africa, skipped so many countries to reach Guinea in West Africa this year.
The virus is known to cause raging fever, muscle pains, vomiting, diarrhoea, internal and external bleeding among other symptoms, and is highly contagious.
New Ziana
Online Reporter
Peter Tanyanyiwa