Risk of Ebola in Caribbean low, says CARPHA
By Toni Frederick From West Indies News Network
St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN): The risk of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) being imported to the Caribbean is low, according to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA).
In a statement issued Wednesday afternoon, Executive Director of CARPHA Dr. James Hospedales points out that here have been no confirmed cases of Ebola in the Caribbean, and overall, the risk of becoming infected with the Ebola virus in the Region remains low.
He adds that in countries where the virus is present, people who have direct contact with the organs, blood, or other bodily fluids of dead or living infected persons or animals are those at greatest risk.
The release says that following an increase in the number of cases of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone recently, and reported cases in Nigeria in the last few days, CARPHA evaluated the risk of importation of the disease to the Caribbean region, including the risk to Caribbean travellers in the affected areas in West Africa.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that in the four affected African countries, there have been 1,711 confirmed cases of EVD and 932 deaths as of August 4th. This makes it the largest Ebola outbreak ever reported, both in terms of cases and the geographical spread.
As a result, the WHO began a two day emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss new measures to tackle the virus.
Ebola through human-to-human transmission, with infection resulting from direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and indirect contact with environments contaminated with such fluids.
It is a severe acute viral illness often characterized by the sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding.
People are infectious as long as their blood and secretions contain the virus.
According to the WHO EVD outbreaks have a case fatality rate of 90 percent..
Wednesday, CARPHA said that while people infected with Ebola may travel to the Caribbean from the affected countries, the available evidence shows that the risk of secondary transmission to direct close contacts or in healthcare settings is still considered very low, if appropriate prevention measures are implemented.
Precautions include avoiding physical contact with patients showing symptoms or dead bodies and their bodily fluids, as well as avoiding unprotected sexual contact with a patient that has recently recovered from the disease.
The risk from casual contact, such as shaking hands or sitting next to someone who is not displaying symptoms is likely to be very low,” Dr. Hospedales emphasized Wednesday.
CARPHA says that it is committed to supporting its member states to “adequately prepare for potential cases and to implement the necessary steps to protect healthcare facilities, patients, healthcare workers and communities.”
IMAGE: Doctors without Borders carry the body of a person killed by the Ebola virus in southern Guinea (Photo courtesy Global Post)
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Flights to Sierra Leone and Liberia suspended amid escalating Ebola fears
From Caribbean360
LONDON, England, Thursday August 7, 2014 – As Nigeria’s health minister described the Ebola outbreak as a national emergency that could become an international emergency, and the death toll in the four affected West African countries inched relentlessly closer to the 1,000 mark, British Airways became the latest airline to temporarily suspended flights to Sierra Leone and Liberia.
On Tuesday, the UK’s national flag carrier confirmed that it is grounding the flights until month-end because of “the deteriorating public health situation in both countries.”
According to a British Airways spokesman: “The safety of our customers, crew and ground teams is always our top priority and we will keep the route under constant review in the coming weeks.
“Customers with tickets on those routes are being offered a range of options including a full refund and the ability to rebook their flights to a later date.”
Guyanese man kills self after accidentally setting neighbour’s house on fire
From Caribbean360
GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Thursday August 7, 2014, CMC – A 54-year-old man allegedly committed suicide after he accidentally set fire to his neighbour’s home, leaving seven people homeless.
Police said that Indar “Suresh” Prashad of Corentyne was found hanging in his bedroom hours after the fire, which he had started in his own yard, spread to his neighbour’s property.
His distraught wife told reporters she had gone in search of her husband after he had gone into their home and found that he was taking long to return.
The fire destroyed the home of Lalchand Permaloo leaving the family of seven, who were not present at the time, homeless and millions (One Guyana dollar =US$0.001 cents) of dollars in losses.
“Suresh” should have never taken his life, since his family would never blame him for anything. “We are friends, we are neighbours. He shouldn’t do this; nobody would never blame he: This fire happen and done. We can get things back, but we can’t get back life,” Permaloo told the Guyana Times newspaper.
The newspaper reported that the Guyana Fire Service came in for heavy criticism after it arrived at the scene one hour after the first call was made and soon ran out of water.
