The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has raised the level of its Ebola travel advisory for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) and Uganda, urging medical providers to ask patients about their travel and exposure history.
In raising its travel advisory for the DR Congo and Uganda from “watch” to “alert,” the CDC urged travelers to “take enhanced precautionary measures” in regions experiencing Ebola outbreaks.
More than 500 suspected cases, including 130 suspected deaths, have been reported in the DR Congo, with 30 confirmed cases, while Uganda has also confirmed two imported cases, according to Tuesday’s Ebola update from the WHO.
Photo: Lo Bi, Taipei Times
The WHO has determined that the Ebola outbreak in the DR Congo and Uganda constitutes a public health emergency of international concern, but does not qualify as a pandemic emergency.
Unlike other Ebola strains with vaccines developed from past outbreaks, the Bundibugyo strain driving the current outbreak has no vaccines or specific treatments for prevention or cure, CDC spokesperson Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) said yesterday.
Travelers to Ebola-affected regions should not touch the blood, bodily fluids or secretions of suspected or confirmed cases, attend funerals or handle corpses, or come in contact with bats, primates or other wild animals, Tseng said.
They should also maintain proper hand hygiene and respiratory practices, she said.
Tseng said the CDC considers the Ebola outbreak’s threat to Taiwan relatively low at this time.
Nevertheless, the CDC has issued a notice to medical providers, reminding them to check patients’ travel, occupation, contact and cluster histories, Tseng said.
Travelers returning from the DR Congo, Uganda and neighboring nations should monitor their health for 21 days, which is the incubation period of the Ebola virus, she said.
If symptoms appear, People should promptly contact local health authorities or call the 1922 epidemic prevention hotline, she added.
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