- Nonessential travel to Ebola affected countries like Guinea and Sierra Leone should be avoided.
- If travelling is unavoidable, then the following points should be kept in mind-
- Check what all is covered under your health insurance in case you get ill while on your trip. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends people travelling to Guinea to have full coverage for emergency medical evacuation.
- Hygiene should be practiced carefully. Hands should be washed frequently with soap and water or using a hand sanitizer.
- Any kind of contact with body or body fluids such as saliva, urine, vomit, sweat, faeces, semen and breast milk should be avoided.
- Since contact with body fluids need to be avoided, hence any items that may have come in contact with infected person’s blood or body fluids should not be handled.
- Participating in burial rituals or funerals should be avoided. No contact with dead bodies should be made.
- Sexual transmission of Ebola is yet to be studied more deeply. Hence sexual contact with a man recovered from Ebola should be avoided. Contact with such person’s semen during oral, vaginal or anal sex should not be made. Condom should be used during sexual intercourse.
- Contact with animals, especially bats and monkeys should be avoided. No contact with meat whether cooked or raw should be made.
- Meat of wild animals which are hunted for food should not be eaten or handled.
- Facilities in West Africa where treatment of Ebola patients is being carried on should be avoided to be visited
- If on your visit, you get fever 4°F / 38°C or above or other Ebola symptoms such as severe headache, fatigue, diarrhoea, vomiting, stomach pain or any unexplained bruising / bleeding, you should immediately seek medical attention. Do not travel anywhere else after developing any such symptoms and avoid contact to other people while on your way to doctor.
- Those who will be working in healthcare settings should wear personal protective equipment. Proper infection control and decontamination measures should be adopted.
The virus belongs to the viral family Filoviridae. The origin of the virus is likely from African fruit bats. Since the virus is transmitted from animals to humans, the virus is also called as zootic virus. The virus can also be transmitted from one human to another. The following animals can transmit the Ebola virus: Chimpanzees Forest antelopes Gorillas Monkeys Porcupines Since people may come in contact with these animals, the virus can get transmitted from the blood or any body fluid of these animals. Point to be considered is that the virus gets transmitted only by coming in direct contact with the body fluids of someone who has the virus and not by air or touch alone. Bodily fluids that may carry the virus may be through: blood diarrhea breast milk feces saliva semen sweat urine vomit Virus transmission can take place through eyes, nose, broken skin, mouth or sexual contact. Workers working in healthcare centers often deal with bodily fluids and blood and ...