Risk of Ebola in SVG ‘small’ at present – Health Ministry

The Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment is insisting that the risk of the Ebola virus making its way to the Caribbean remains “small” at this point in time – but that it is preparing for any such eventuality.

Concerns were heightened over the last week, with the news that two American citizens who contracted the Ebola virus have been transported to the United States.{{more}}

Dr Rosmond Adams, chair of the National Surveillance Committee, said that the two infected patients – who were working in Liberia – were transported in a controlled manner and taken directly to an isolation unit.

“They were transported in aircraft fitted for that purpose,” Adams explained. “It’s not that there is going to be any outside risk.”

Ferrosa Roache, co-chair of the National Surveillance Committee said that the Ministry has drafted an emergency plan so that local health authorities can “respond immediately” if St Vincent and

the Grenadines’ risk level changes.

“We are looking at heightening our surveillance activities at our ports of entry,” she stated. “We have identified areas where we can isolate ill patients in the event that there is something like that.”

Roache further pointed out that the Ministry is in the process of developing management protocols so that members of health authorities would be knowledgeable in managing the disease and ensuring their personal safety.

Immigration workers, health care workers, morgue workers and funeral home workers will also be sensitised about the virus, and what roles they would play in identifying and curbing the disease, in the event of an outbreak locally.

Dr Adams said that the Ministry has based its local risk assessment on consultations with experts

from regional health agencies such as the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO).

He also clarified that the statement of “no direct link” (made in a press release last week) between SVG/the Caribbean and the West African countries afflicted by the Ebola virus was in reference to mode of transport.

Dr Adams pointed out that travelling by air from West Africa would entail travelling through several transit points; meaning that if infected persons were heading to the Caribbean, once they are exhibiting symptoms of the disease, they would be detected before they reached their destination.

Symptoms typically start 2 to 21 days after contracting the virus, with a fever, throat and muscle pains and headaches. There is then typically nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea, along with decreased functioning of the liver and kidneys. At that point, some people begin to have problems with bleeding. The disease is usually acquired when a person comes into contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an infected person.

The Ebola virus disease (EVD) or Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever (EHF) is caused by the Ebola virus – named for the region in the Congo where it was first identified in 1976.(JSV)