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Guinean, Cote d'Ivoire experts urge "more vigilance" over Ebola

Xinhua, February 25, 2015 Adjust font size:

Health experts from Guinea and Cote d'Ivoire have agreed to carry out periodic cross-border meetings to reinforce vigilance against Ebola virus along the border zones, an official source in Abidjan told Xinhua Tuesday.

Cote d'Ivoire's health officials said the proximity of Guinea's affected regions to Cote d'Ivoire's border justifies the need for periodic meetings to come up with effective preventive measures.

"Lola region in Guinea where the virus is widespread shares a border with Cote d'Ivoire's regions of Tonkpi, Bafing and Kabadougou," said Antoine Kouadio, the Kabadougou regional health director.

Kouadio equally highlighted the challenges arising from the porousness of the border and absence of transport means in some zones.

The Tonkpi regional health director Seydou Doumbia said isolation centers had been set up in each health district within his zone, but he appealed for establishment of a treatment center.

On several occasions, West African authorities and experts have called for elaboration of a regional plan to fight against hemorrhagic Ebola fever.

During a recent meeting in Conakry, the regional director for the World Health Organization (WHO) Dr. Luis Sambo called for reinforcement of cross-border and community actions to ensure the entire sub-region is free from the disease.

According to WHO, the Ebola virus has so far claimed over 8,500 lives out of 22,000 cases in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. Endi