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 The four nations of Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone are
struggling to combat the world's worst outbreak of Ebola, which has
a fatality rate of up to 90 percent, with no known vaccine or cure.
The World Health Organisation declared the West Africa epidemic an
"extraordinary event" and an international public health emergency
on Friday.
There have been no confirmed cases of the virus in Asia, but health
authorities who have battled deadly viruses, such as bird flu and
the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in recent years, were
dusting off the drills used for those outbreaks.
Their measures included infra-red thermal imaging cameras to screen
air passengers with fevers and public awareness campaigns. Most
countries have told citizens to consider postponing travel to
affected areas.
Asia's efforts to screen visitors were adequate, said Tarik
Jasarevic, a WHO spokesman based in Geneva.
"As long as a person is not visibly sick we think it's fine for them
to be in public," he told Reuters by telephone. "We consider the
risk for international spread quite low. The measures countries in
Asia have taken are appropriate."
Health officials in Thailand, which received a record 26.5 million
tourists last year, are monitoring 21 visitors from Sierra Leone,
Liberia and Guinea. The officials said they had no plans to
quarantine the visitors.
"They are free to move but we are checking in on them frequently,"
said Opart Karnkawinpong, a disease control official at Thailand's
Ministry of Public Health.
"We have surveillance cameras in place at major entry points and
doctors at international airports to supplement existing teams."
MEASURES IN PLACE
The Ebola virus is only transmitted through contact with the body
fluids of someone with symptoms, which initially include muscle
pains and joint aches, then worsen to vomiting, diarrhea and
internal and external bleeding in the final stages.
In China, there were no reports of Ebola cases but hospitals have
been told to report any suspected cases.
India, which has nearly 45,000 citizens living and working in the
four affected countries, said it would screen travelers passing
through, or starting journeys there, when they returned.
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"The surveillance system would be geared up to track these travelers
for four weeks and detect them early, in case they develop
symptoms," Health Minister Harsh Vardhan told parliament on
Wednesday.
Japan is ready to send suspected Ebola victims to special isolation
hospitals, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news
conference.
In Australia, authorities said they had not taken extra steps but
airports were on alert for sick travelers, saying the risk of the
disease reaching the country was "very low".
Officials in Singapore said the city state, praised for its tough
measures against the SARS outbreak that claimed 33 lives in 2003,
also faced only a low threat from the Ebola virus.
"Measures are already in place to carry out contact tracing and
quarantine all close contacts if there is a case," the health
ministry said.
In Thailand, health official Opart said the 21 travelers would stay
under observation for the entire incubation period, which can last
up to 21 days.
"Even though Ebola is only a small risk to Thailand we are not
taking any chances," he said.
(Additional reporting by Thuy Ong in SYDNEY, Rachel Armstrong in
SINGAPORE, Aung Hla Tun in YANGON, Kaori Kaneko in TOKYO and Nita
Bhalla of the Thomson Reuters Foundation in NEW DELHI; Editing by
Clarence Fernandez)
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