Vietnam monitors 83 passengers against Ebola, reporting no infections

Vietnam has monitored 83 passengers entering Vietnam from areas with the Ebola virus disease, but reported no infections so far, said a Vietnamese official on Friday.

Tran Dac Phu, head of the General Department of Preventive Medicine under Vietnam's Ministry of Health (MoH), made the remarks at an teleconference of Steering Committee on Epidemic Prevention and Control on Friday, reported state-run news agency VNA.

Among the 83 monitored passengers, 79 arrived at southern Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat airport while the remaining four people entered Vietnam via capital Hanoi's Noi Bai airport.

In addition, all other border gates nationwide have reported no entry from disease-affected areas so far.

At Tan Son Nhat airport on Tuesday, two Nigerians arrived from Ebola-infected area with symptoms of fever. These passengers, who then were temporarily quarantined in Ho Chi Minh City's Hospital for Tropical Diseases, recovered from fever after 24 hours.

They will continue to have health monitoring in their living places in the coming 21 days, said Phu, adding that all passengers entering Vietnam from epidemic areas will have health monitored by provincial centers for preventive medicine in their residential areas.

In order to prevent and fight against the epidemic, the MoH has built and issued technical documents on how to monitor, prevent, and treat diseases caused by Ebola virus.

All passengers from Ebola-infected areas have been warned to apply preventive measures against the virus in 21 days since they left the areas as well as contact healthcare agencies if necessary.

Moreover, two training courses in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City on monitoring and treating Ebola virus diseases were held, automatic disinfection systems were implemented at the country's two major international airports of Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat, while a rehearsal on responding to Ebola virus diseases was held in Tan Son Nhat airport last Sunday, reported VNA.

Nguyen Thanh Long, deputy minister of MoH, said at the conference that there is possibility that Ebola may enter Vietnam.

Vietnamese healthcare sector has closely coordinated with international organizations to watch developments of the epidemic, said Long.

The MoH suggested that passengers from all international flights arriving at international border gates, especially at airports, should receive medical screening with temperature scanners to soon detect those with fever. Passengers from the four West African countries with Ebola epidemic must take medical declarations.

Ebola virus disease, formerly known as Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever, is a rare disease that causes severe, often fatal illness in humans, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). There have been several Ebola outbreaks in Africa since the virus first appeared in 1976.

The WHO's latest update on the Ebola outbreak said 1,350 people have died of the disease in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone since March.