Dozens monitored for Ebola in Zimbabwe
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Doctors and nurses dressing with security suits to receive Spanish doctor Manuel Garcia Viejo, infected with Ebola, who will be treated at the hospital Carlos III in Madrid, Spain. Source: EPA
JOHANNESBURG – The number of Ebola infections in Liberia and
Sierra Leone could skyrocket to 1.4 million by January 2015, according
to a new projection by US health authorities out Tuesday.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that
Ebola cases in these two West African nations could range from between
550,000 and 1.4 million cases by January 20, 2015.
The estimate is based on the assumption that Ebola cases in the
world's largest outbreak to date are being underreported by a factor of
2.5, said the report from the CDC.
However, experts cautioned that the projection was based on data
available in August, before the United States ramped up its response to
the epidemic in West Africa.
Meanwhile, at least 98 people have been monitored in Harare after
having travelled to Ebola-hit West African countries over the past few
weeks.
That’s according to Zimbabwe’s NewsDay publication.
It says that of the 98 people, 84 were coming from Nigeria.
Half had already been cleared after testing negative following a
21-day surveillance period under which the disease is expected to
manifest.
Harare City Council health director Prosper Chonzi told NewsDay:
“If one is coming from West Africa, they are screened first at the
ports of entry and if they do not have any signs and symptoms, we do
not put them under quarantine, but we put them under surveillance for 21
days,” Chonzi said.
“Port health officials assess the
people and then those who have been to the affected countries fill in
forms which are then sent to us, so that we follow them up.
We check on them every day and tell them to go about their business, but ask them not to move around unnecessarily so that in the event they are affected, it will be easy to trace them.
Chonzi said after expiry of the 21-day gestation period for the
Ebola virus, the monitored patients would be certified as free of the
disease, NewsDay reported.
“For one to be put under quarantine, they would have one or two
signs and symptoms associated with Ebola and if their history shows that
they have been in contact with an Ebola patient, then we refer them to
Wilkins Hospital (an infectious disease hospital in Harare) where the
procedure will go on,” Chonzi said.