What Is The Ebola Virus? Are We At Risk In Malaysia?
Malaysia remains calm as the world faces its worst outbreak of the Ebola virus.
By Mei Mei Chu — 01 Aug 2014, 04:42 PM — Updated almost 10 years ago
All Hospitals And Clinics In Malaysia Have Been Placed On High Alert For One Of The World's Most Virulent Diseases, The Ebola Virus Disease (EVD)
All public and private hospitals and clinics nationwide have been put on high alert for Ebola, one of the world's most virulent diseases. Doctors who come across Ebola cases or its symptoms – vomiting, diarrhoea, high fever, liver and kidney failure – must notify the National Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (CPRC).
Likewise, Countries Around The World Are Keeping On High Alert As The World's Faces The Worst Outbreak Of The Ebola Disease
Medical staff working with Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) prepare to bring food to patients kept in an isolation area at the MSF Ebola treatment centre in Kailahun, Sierra Leone, July 20, 2014.
Image via malaysiaedition.netDoctors Without Borders (MSF) said the crisis gripping Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone would only get worse and warned there was no overarching strategy to handle the world’s worst outbreak of the disease.
theborneopost.com
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has held talks with global health officials on potential measures to halt the spread of the disease. In Britain, where one person has tested negative for the disease, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said it was regarded as “a very serious threat”.
theborneopost.com
Australia said yesterday it was well prepared in the unlikely event that the Ebola virus reached its shores. Australia has already warned against travel to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Meanwhile, Thai health authorities said they had ordered all hospitals to monitor patients for any symptoms, particularly nationals or foreign tourists who had been in the outbreak area.
theborneopost.com
In Hong Kong, a densely populated city previously scarred by disease outbreaks such as the 2003 SARS epidemic, health officials confirmed they would quarantine as a precautionary measure any visitors from Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia who showed fever symptoms. One woman arriving in the southern Chinese city from Africa, who showed symptoms including fever and vomiting, has tested negative for Ebola.
theborneopost.com
The Ebola Outbreak Was First Reported In Guinea In February 2014, It Then Spread To Sierra Leone And Liberia. Up To 1,300 Cases Have Now Been Reported.
The outbreak – the world's deadliest to date – was first reported in Guinea in February. It then spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Sierra Leone has declared a state of emergency and called in troops to quarantine Ebola victims, joining neighbouring Liberia in imposing controls as the death toll from the outbreak of the virus hit 729 in West Africa.
malaysiaedition.net
The WHO yesterday reported 57 new deaths in the four days to July 27 in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, raising the death toll to 729. It said the number of Ebola cases had topped 1,300.
malaysiaedition.net
The World Health Organisation said it would launch a US$100 million response plan today during a meeting with the affected nations in Guinea. It is in urgent talks with donors and international agencies to send more medical staff and resources to the region, it said.
malaysiaedition.net
Fears that the outbreak in west Africa could spread to other continents grew on Wednesday, with European and Asian countries on alert and a leading medical charity warning the epidemic was out of control.
The Ebola Outbreak In West Africa Caused A Worldwide Stir On 25 July After An American Man With Symptoms Travelled On Two Flights. He Died Five Days Later.
Health workers, dressed in head-to-toe "Ebola suits", leaving in a pick-up truck in Uige, about 300km north of the Angolan capital, Luanda.
Image via rt.comLast Friday, the death of an American passenger who was allowed on two flights within Africa despite showing Ebola-like symptoms sparked fears of a worldwide epidemic, prompting the tracking down of other passengers who had boarded the same plane.
themalaymailonline.com
The Mirror reported that those exposed to Patrick Sawyer, 40, could sparked a worldwide spread of the killer disease. Sawyer had a stopover in Ghana and changed planes in Togo before flying to the international travel hub of Lagos in Nigeria. He died five days after arriving in the city.
thestar.com.myMalaysia Has Yet To Receive An EVD Notification, But The Health Ministry Is Constantly Monitoring For Possible Ebola Cases Entering The Country
He said in Malaysia, notification of EVD was mandated under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Disease Act 1988. "Even though there has not been any EVD notification in Malaysia, the ministry is constantly monitoring and prepared for any possible cases of Ebola virus entering the country," he added.
thestar.com.myThe Health Ministry said today that it is on the alert and is capable of coping with the Ebola virus if the disease, now confined to West Africa, reaches Malaysian shores. The Health Ministry said it is already working closely with the World Health Organization to monitor the spread of the disease and played down the likelihood of transmission via air travel.
yahoo.com“The risk of infection for travellers is very low as transmission results from direct contact with blood, organs, body fluids or secretions of an infected living or dead persons or animal, which are unlikely exposures for the average traveller,” the ministry’s director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah told Malay Mail Online in an emailed response.
themalaymailonline.com
Malaysia Has A System For Information Exchange Between The Country's Major Airports, Ports, Hospitals And Laboratories In The Event Of A Public Health Emergency Like Ebola
Noor Hisham said Malaysia already has a system for information exchange between the country’s major airports, ports, hospitals and laboratories in the event of a “public health emergency” which includes the detection of the Ebola.
themalaymailonline.com
If there is a sudden outbreak of the Ebola disease, rapid response teams at the national, state and district levels will carry out field investigations and work to control its spread. A National Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre will coordinate the government’s response to any Ebola cases, besides assessing the scale of the emergency if the virus is found here, he said.
themalaymailonline.com
Malaysians Travelling To West Africa Have Also Been Advised To Take Precautionary Measures Against The Ebola Virus
Malaysians Travelling To West Africa Have Also Been Advised To Take Precautionary Measures Against The Ebola Virus
Image via thestar.com.myMalaysians who are planning to travel to West Africa have been advised to take precautionary measures against the Ebola virus (EVD). Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said EVD was a deadly disease with a high fatality rate.
thestar.com.myHe also advised the public to practise good hygiene such as washing their hands with soap and water or using hand sanitiser. "Avoid going near people who are sick including having contact with bodily fluids of individuals infected with EVD, and houses or health facilities connected to the Ebola outbreak.
thestar.com.my"Avoid handling wild animals that are sick or have died, and return home quickly after visiting the affected countries. They must seek treatment immediately if they don't feel well and to inform the attending doctor of their travel history," Dr Noor said.
thestar.com.myThe Ebola Virus Disease, A Severe Illness With A 90% Fatality Rate, Is Transmitted Via Body Fluids. There Is No Cure Yet.
The Ebola Virus Disease, A Severe Illness With A 90% Fatality Rate, Is Transmitted Via Body Fluids.
Image via wordpress.comEbola virus disease (formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever) is a severe, often fatal illness, with a case fatality rate of up to 90%. It is one of the world’s most virulent diseases. EVD outbreaks occur primarily in remote villages in Central and West Africa, near tropical rainforests.
who.int
The infection is transmitted by direct contact with the blood, body fluids and tissues of infected animals or people. Severely ill patients require intensive supportive care. During an outbreak, those at higher risk of infection are health workers, family members and others in close contact with sick people and deceased patients.
who.int
Ebola first appeared in 1976 in 2 simultaneous outbreaks, in Nzara, Sudan, and in Yambuku, Democratic Republic of Congo. The latter was in a village situated near the Ebola River, from which the disease takes its name.
who.int
No licensed vaccine for EVD is available. Several vaccines are being tested, but none are available for clinical use.
who.int
Symptoms Include The Sudden Onset Of Fever, Muscle Aches, Vomiting, Diarrhoea, Impaired Liver And Kidney Function, As Well As Internal And External Bleeding
EVD is a severe acute viral illness often characterized by the sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding. Laboratory findings include low white blood cell and platelet counts and elevated liver enzymes.
who.int
People are infectious as long as their blood and secretions contain the virus. Ebola virus was isolated from semen 61 days after onset of illness in a man who was infected in a laboratory.
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