Kuwait takes precautionary measures to confront Ebola virus

Director of Public Health Department at the Ministry of Health Yusuf Mandakar announced Thursday that the Ministry has taken a number of precautionary and preventive measures to confront the spread of the deadly epidemic Ebola disease.
In statements to KUNA, Mandakar said that the measures include monitoring the health conditions of people coming from virus-infected countries at air, sea and land border posts.
A suspected case would be quarantined for 21 days to make sure necessary medical checks to know if he/she carries the virus or not, Mandakar said.
He pointed out that the Ministry of Health, in coordination with ports, border and civil aviation authorities, will offer health guidance and advice to travelers to the infected countries.
Mandakar stated that a circular was distributed to medical staff in public and private hospitals detailing the symptoms of the disease and how to deal with and report the suspected cases.
The ministry issued a circular on hygienic and disinfection measures and health education for those who could have close contact with infected cases, he said.
He added that the Ministry is continuing contacts with the World Health Organization to follow up the latest developments of the disease and international medical organizations recommendations to confront it.
The Ministry of the Interior has also stopped issuance of visas for workers coming from infected areas.
Earlier, Kuwait Health Ministry issued a statement affirming that Kuwait is free of the virus, but it urged the citizenry not to travel to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone due to rising numbers of people infected with Ebola virus there amidst fears of spreading to other African countries.
The ministry, on its website, urged the Ministry of Interior to suspend granting of visas to workers coming from these countries.
Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans. EVD outbreaks have a case fatality rate of up to 90 percent.
Since breaking out earlier this year, the epidemic has claimed 932 lives and infected more than 1,700 people across West Africa, according to the World Health Organisation.
EVD outbreaks occur primarily in remote villages in Central and West Africa, near tropical rainforests. The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission.
EVD 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. Laboratory findings include low white blood cell and platelet counts and elevated liver enzymes.
No licensed specific treatment or vaccine is available for use in people or animals.