Government has banned entry into Zambia of all people coming from countries where the Ebola Virus has broken out.
Ebola has broken out in West Africa and countries affected by the outbreak are Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.
Health Minister, Joseph Katema has since called for strict entry controls at all airports and all border posts.
Dr Kasonde has explained that government is focusing on preventive measures to ensure that Zambia is protected from all threats of the EBOLA virus.
The Health Minister told TV 2?s Penlope Sikazwe in an exclusive interview that Zambians must also take personal precautionary measures and ensure that the country is protected from the EBOLA virus.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization -W.H.O- has declared the spread of Ebola in West Africa an international health emergency.
W.H.O officials said a coordinated international response was essential to stop and reverse the spread of the virus.
The announcement came after experts convened a two-day emergency meeting in Switzerland.
So far more than 930 people have died from Ebola in West Africa this year.
The United Nations health agency said the outbreak was an “extraordinary event”.
Further the Ministry of Health released the following statement to the media
REPUBLIC OF ZAMBIA
MINISTRY OF HEALTH
PRESS STATEMENT ON THE THREAT OF THE EBOLA OUTBREAK IN WEST AFRICA
West Africa has been gripped by an outbreak of Ebola which has shown signs of slowly spreading across the borders of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra-Leone and Nigeria to the rest of the region and beyond. Although there is no immediate threat of spread to Zambia of Ebola, considering the extent of the outbreak, and recognizing the ease with which people can travel between two points in the world, the Ministry of Health has heightened its alert status.
The World Health Organization has declared Ebola Virus disease a “Public Health Emergency of International Proportions”.
What is Ebola virus disease?
Ebola virus disease (EVD) is a severe disease in humans caused by the Ebola virus. The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission.
Once there is a case of Ebola, it is spreads in the community 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. Burial ceremonies in which mourners have direct contact with the body of the deceased person can also play a role in the transmission of Ebola. Therefore avoid the following:
Contact with blood or bodily fluids of a person or corpse infected with the Ebola virus.
Contact with or handling of wild animals, alive or dead or their raw or undercooked meat.
Having sexual intercourse with a sick person or a person recovering from EVD for at least 7 weeks.
Having contact with any object, such as needles, that has been contaminated with blood or bodily fluids of infected subject.
Signs and symptoms
EVD is characterized by the sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, skin rash, poor kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding.
What has Ministry of Health done in Ebola threat preparedness?
1. The National Epidemic preparedness committee has put Ebola top of its agenda and has reactivated the provincial and district rapid response teams
2. A national rapid response team has been constituted comprising all the key stakeholders involved and other line ministries. This a multi-sectoral committee
3. Care providers and Point of Entry authorities at all the major Points of Entry – Ground Crossings, Airports and marine Port(s) have been orientated on Ebola.
4. Site assessments have been carried out, and possible isolation facilities in case of a suspected Ebola case have been identified
5. Personal Protective equipment (PPE’s) for use by Health personnel has been procured.
6. Information Education and Communication (IEC) materials have been developed and awaiting printing to educate the general public and care providers on the dangers of Ebola and how to prevent it.
7. A national Ebola preparedness plan and budget to support the response has been prepared.
8. Zambia has Laboratory capacity to test and confirm for Ebola at University of Zambia School of Veterinary Medicine.
9. The Ministry has assigned ambulances to be stationed at all major Points of Entry namely All the the four main International Airports (Kenneth Kaunda, Harry Mwanga Nkumbula, Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe and Mfuwe) and Ground Crossings (Kasumba Lesa, Nakonde, Mpulungu Chirundu, Katma Mulilo, Victorial Falls, Kazungula and Mokambo). Other crossings will be managed as part of the routine surveillance.
The Ministry therefore has directed the following:
1. All hospitals in the provinces are directed to hold regular clinical meetings on Ebola to raise more awareness among the care providers
2. Ensure 24 hour surveillance at all busy Points of Entry in the country with specific and dedicated health care providers assigned to man them. This involves screening travellers especially those from the affected areas. The Ministry will support this activity through procurement of thermal scanners for detection of febrile illnesses at the Points of Entry.
3. Ensure that the general public understands the nature of the disease, how it is transmitted, and how to prevent it from spreading further. The disease is transmitted by direct with body fluids of infected individual, animals or dead bodies.
4. The Ministry advises the general public NOT TO TOUCH any Ebola Virus Disease suspect or case or even person known to have died of the disease.
Travel advice
1. Ensure all Zambians travelling from the Ebola affected areas will be thoroughly screened and quarantined if the risk is eminent upon return until further notice.
2. Ensure all delegates from any of the countries affected by Ebola Virus disease are restricted from entering Zambia until further notice
3. Ensure that all International events that may involve delegates from the affected countries are postponed, cancelled or such delegates excluded. The Ministry is advising against holding of all international events that lead to mass gatherings until further notice. This is because these mass gatherings escalates the spread of the disease and makes control difficult.
4. Ensure Zambians and residents intending to travel to the Ebola affected countries on duty or business are restricted to undertake such travels.
In case of any queries or report any suspected cases contact any of the following numbers:
+260966841062,
+260977421611,
+260962771859
+260955411988
Email: [email protected]
HON DR JOSEPH KASONDE
MINISTER OF HEALTH
Make sure you also impose a rule of ebola style greeting – just a wave with no touching.
Zambia has registered her first case of Ebola.
Ebola Phiri was born early this morning at 04:30am.
Both mother and daughter are doing well said Ebola’s dad Mr Pothole Phiri.
Thank You, Good move. Zambians are not strong like West Africans, they would be dying from Ebola within 23 hours.
Nubian princess
Looks like you always have your knickers in a twist. Are you okay Bbe
That aside every country must protect their own, but bad for business.
Finally a more sensible decision made than the threats to recall Dr. Kasolo from the WHO. It had to take a global alert and a SADC health ministers meeting yesterday for some reaction from our Government.
@Robin, kekekeke what is twisted?? No problem bwana, its weekend, I will go and untwist it! hooo hoo sorry it’s Ebola period no touching.
Nice move !!! I endorse it.
Let them make devices for detecting Ebola like cocaine or uranium…huh!!!
Oh why then didn’t you endorse Dr.C.Banda’s warnings?These plans are just being thought of when the WHO has declared an emergency of Ebola in west Africa.
When Ebola strikes it will not discriminate on party lines.
Never mind our borders the are so porous even 5 articulated mining trucks can sneaked in.
There are apparently over 2000 Zambians working in Serria Leon, Mali, Senegal, Nigeria etc in Sugar factories and mines. And they always movin to and fro west africa. Therefore let us be aware and alert!
Notice that west and west central africans(Cameroon and up) are the only people who attract ebola bcoz of their bush meat habits? Plus wildlife in that region is not as plentiful as in East and southern africa bcoz they ate it all. Thank God i’m a zambian and not a west african monkey eating human skunk.
Aish! What’s all this skunk business? Have you not heard of Zambians eating monkeys (kakolwe) and rats (bakwindi)?
OOhhh the beauties of internet!!! that gives people the courage to say rubbish about others anonymously…..one day you will repeat this in the wrong place in person and I will be there….a Nigerian.
…how will that be possible with these inter-connecting flights..??…Some-one from Liberia will travel to South Africa and then Zed…or Nairobi and then Zed…By the time you find out that the passenger is from Liberia, he/she will have already been in Zed….
I doubt HH would make such a bold decision.
As a cattle keeper he should know what Ebola is yet he has kept quiet and been taking about the constitution. Something a lot of I have distanced ourselves from.
The man is a joke
Thanks
You’ve had ebola of the mind for a looong time ,Mushota.
Ha ha ha Mushota never ceases to amaze me.
Iwe kamushota I doubt your intelligence.I think you are just a maid.HH has a team of experts who warned the pf govt. about their lack of preparedness.Where you not one of the people writting s.hi.t about that.Even Dr. kasolo warned and he was threatened that he will be recalled from WHO.
You are possessed with hatred for one tribe.You are possessed with a demon of hatred.Go to T.B Joshua to deliver you
Mushota…
HH a cattle keeper? I think you are now just providing us entertainment…..Anyway I still enjoyed your post for the joke it is…..Looking forward for more……
Thank you.
A Nigerian girl,Emily Bolanyemi ,flew into London and her air ticket was abbreviated E.Bola …..naturally all the UK immigration officials fled from her.
Who is our health minister? J. Katemo or J. Kasonde
kepushe ku police. Mwandi, jst kidding 😉
Katema is Information Minister, Kasonde is health minister
kepushe ku police. hehe, jst kidding.
Katemo is Info Minister, Kasonde is health Minister
Ignorance is a very dangerous disease, how can you surely ban people from West Africa from entering Zambia. Do you think every body in West Africa has the disease.
I hope you have heard of digital thermometers u chaps. Most countries now have digital thermometers, all they do at airports is laser beam you and once the temperature is high, one is thoroughly screened. Ebola presents itself with very high fever and is easily picked through body temperature as a first. It’s not every body who enters Zambia from West Africa that needs to be screened. Don’t over do things. Always exaggerating, no clue on anything. It is those that show a high temp, free advice to a Ministry that is supposed to be in the know
My friend Ebola takes 20 days before those temperature signs are visible.By then the person might have had infected a lot of people.The approach taken by the government is the best.
Silence is golden when you’re not the expert and kani tamwishipo!
Kindly research on the incubation period of the Ebola Virus, you will find the it can take on average 5 to 10 days before any visible signs or before a patient starts exhibiting and even then other hemorrhagic diseases have to be ruled out and in our case you also consider malaria.
Depending on one’s immune system you would be very infectious by the time signs are visible if not close to death, the trickiest part is catching Ebola early enough and treating the symptoms before you inside turn into porridge!
I am encouraging everyone 2b health
conscious( b a Vegeterian if possible I am proud 2b one & SOON I will b a Vegan). These
diseases tht r coming on Planet Earth ve
strange Origins !.
Its your choice its your health. God’s face to
shine upon you people. Ths disease can WIPE
THE WHOLE OF AFRICA I beit you !
This is great but now the chaps must enforce it at the border post and we must start educating people on Ebola because we all know zambia health care is useless I blame both the pf and mmd for its current state
And my friend left for Nigeria on thursday for TB Joshua’s sunday service at Lagos SCOAN, please Ministry of health take into consideration such movements…
Just invest in screening aides. Banning movement of people affects trade. Not even the WHO recommends such draconian methods. Any way who would want to come to such a confused state like Zambia.
It is a very manageable disease. Easy to detect. Can only be passed on by direct contact of body fluids. Cannot be passed on until a person is acutely sick meaning a person can’t pass it on until he is dying on his bed.
All along we were told the country was ready to handle Ebola cases and suddenly there is a ban on people from west Africa to come in. No boss, let us test your words. Only 1000 people have died in west Africa out of a massive population
This is an uninformed decision. Incubation period 2-21days, not only west africans leave in west africa therefore anyone could have travelled to these countries. Zambians leave and work in these countries are you going to stop them from coming home. Are you going to tell delegates to 50th anniversary from these countries not to come. Dullness ba kasonde
In Malawi, Member of Parliament for Lilongwe city council David Bisnowaty has donated sets of screening devices(Digital laser beam thermometers) to Kamuzu International Airport to strengthen the level of preparedness for any suspected Ebola case (www.nyasatimes.com). Here in Zambia the Members of Parliament are looking for a pay rise with a minister who has no plan for Ebola except to unreasonably ban people from West Africa from coming here. The majority in West Africa are fit bwana
That is not the solution bwana minister.What about the Zambians returning from Nigeria to see T.B Joshua.Are you going to deport them back to Nigeria
The best way is to ban every Zambian to visit West Africa,then put up a quarantine camp near the airport.
Each district must have a quarantine center.The people presenting with Ebola symptoms must not be seen at our health facilities but at these centers.
The problem with our people is that when they hear that there is an Ebola case at UTH,they will rash to go and see.
We need to ban the corruption mind-set first, in order to successful make any ban.
What the Ministry of Health has done regarding ebola scare is highly commendable. We all need to be alert. Although border entry points have been secured with ebola detection scanners, hundreds of illegal entry points have been left unsealed. West Africa may seem to be far off our Zambian boundaries, but the happenings of 1980s when Senegalis illegal miners of emeralds on the Copperbelt poured in freely mainly through Zaire, formerly DRC and presently DRC and using bush paths (utushila twampanga) brings chilly feeling. How I wish the entire country was secured by a concrete wall of 15 metres high and left with a number of entry and exit points well manned by health personnel and ebola scanners!
1. In more than 4 months since outbreak, less than 2000 infections (High death rate of 53%). In Nigeria death rate (about 28%).
2. These people in West Africa were stealing their infected relatives from the hospitals. It has taken time for them to realise their folly
3. There is no proper health systems in West Africa like we have in Southern Africa. Simple things like under five and a proper immunisation programs don’t exist. An example is a big Coutry like Nigeria, they don’t have a National ID. Nothing like NRC to prove citizenship
From the above, you will notice that in a normal functional society, even if there was an outbreak, it can still be contained. Get the facts from the other contributor. Ebola is not easily passed on from one person to another, except in the last stages.
Boys & girls we forget Ebola started from the DRC just next door. Aren’t we been a touch arrogant & condescending, when this is a disease local to us and exported to W. Africa.
The last thing we would want in Southern Africa is this virus,imagine two months of no trade,no tourism,high medical budgets..Both my country Zimbabwe and Zambia are currently inert so ild say our governments better do all they can on screening and preventing rather than be tolerant.