21 tourists monitored for Ebola..!! Health officials are monitoring 21 tourists in Thailand to determine if they are infected with the deadly Ebola virus. Dr Sophon Mekthon, director-general of the Department of Disease Control, said Wednesday that since June 8, Thai health authorities have monitored more than 300 tourists who arrived from countries affected by Ebola, which has an incubation period of up to 21 days. Twenty-one of those tourists remained within the incubation period, he said. Although Ebola poses only a small risk to Thailand, authorities are taking serious precautions to screen travellers for it, Dr Sophon said. Health authorities are watching out for airline passengers with suspicious symptoms at five international airports: Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Chiang Mai, Phuket and Hat Yai. Employees at Thai hospitals also have been ordered to stay alert for people with suspicious symptoms. The Bureau of Epidemiology is closely monitoring the Ebola situation overseas and the Department of Medical Sciences is ready for laboratory tests for the disease. Ebola has a mortality rate of more than 90%, but is spread only through contact with blood and bodily fluids. Incubation periods range from two to 21 days. Patients develop high temperatures quickly, feel exhausted, have muscle pain, severe headaches and sore throats, vomiting and red swollen skin rashes. >Ebola is spreading in the West African countries of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. By Aug 4 there had been 1,603 Ebola patients of whom 887 died. There is no vaccine or specific medication for the disease.
Posted on: Wed, 06 Aug 2014 11:46:24 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015