Anna Zhao

    anna.whizh@yahoo.com

    SHENZHEN’S center for disease prevention and control said yesterday at a press conference that it is taking measures to prevent an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the city.

    Some of the major precautionary measures include monitoring day-to-day health conditions of people who come from Ebola-stricken countries and preparing local hospitals and communities for any possible cases.

    Ebola only spreads through human-to-human transmission via direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with surfaces and materials (e.g. bedding, clothing) contaminated with these fluids, according to the World Health Organization.

    Ma Hanwu, vice director with the center, said the center has conducted tests for people who have been deemed in need of screenings and so far there are no suspected Ebola patients in the city.

    The center has established a monitoring system for people who enter the city from infected areas in Africa within 21 days of their departure, an incubation period for the disease.“We have been making phone calls every day to get updates on their health conditions and to remind them to contact a hospital if they show any signs of sickness,” Ma said.

    Fears that the virus will spread in China are on the rise after experts conducted a mathematical computation of an infection rate based on the disease’s transmission status earlier this month.

Ma said that a key strategy in disease prevention and control is to educate the public about a given disease and to take scientific approaches.

“If a citizen has made contact with a person who just returned from an Ebola-stricken area and has abnormal health conditions, they should report to a hospital,” Ma said.

The center said it has been working with the border inspection and quarantine authority to make sure that anyone whose body temperature is above 37.5 degrees Celsius is taken to Shenzhen No. 3 People’s Hospital, the designated hospital to treat potential Ebola patients. Blood test results will be announced around five hours following a potential Ebola-patient’s admission to a hospital.

The center said the public’s cooperation is needed and that anyone who declines to provide correct contact and residence information will be sent to the police, according to the city’s law on prevention and control of infectious diseases. It also admitted that local medical staff have a very limited understanding of the disease and no experience in handling it.

Xie Xu, head of the center’s disease prevention and control office, emphasized that the disease is only spread via contact with bodily fluids of infected people.

“There is a risk that Ebola will spread to the city, but a widespread outbreak isn’t likely because the city has good medical services and people have a strong awareness of hygiene,” Xie said in refutation of rumors circulating on social media that the disease could spread rapidly if it comes to China.

Xie also reminded people to thoroughly wash their hands with running water to reduce the risk of infection.