South Africa’s medical experts are alarmed by an outbreak of the deadly ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo — fearing that infected travellers could spread the disease here.
This comes after World Health Organisation officials confirmed yesterday that five people had tested positive for the virus in the Congo.
Authorities have reported some “120 deaths among 300 sick people” over just the past four months, said its spokesman, Gregory Hartl.
Professor Robert Swanepoel, a consultant in the special pathogens unit at South Africa’s National Institute of Communicable Diseases, said while the fatal disease occurred mainly in the Congo, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, infected people are known to travel to South Africa and other parts of the world for medical treatment.
The World Health Organisation has now activated its global outbreak alert and response network , asking health organisations to send epidemiologists and other medical experts to the Congo.
Ebola, which causes death in 50percent to 90percent of cases, is transmitted by contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected persons.
Symptoms begin with fever and muscle pain, followed by vomiting and diarrhoea.
Foreign affairs ministry spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa said: “ An ebola outbreak is an ongoing problem in the region. However, I am not aware of South Africa being asked to assist with any outbreak.”
Swanepoel said it was not uncommon for medical evacuation companies to transport infected patients to South Africa, as was the case recently when an doctor infected with ebola was brought into the country.
The doctor, from Nigeria, was treated at the Unitas Hospital, outside Pretoria.
Swanepoel said: “He obviously died as there is no cure for the disease. It is known that people come to South Africa for treatment.”
Three airlines — SAA, Hewa Bora Airlines and Kenya Airways — operate flights between Johannesburg and the Congo capital of Kinshasa.
SAA is the only carrier that flies direct between the two destinations, four days a week, while the other two carriers have stop-overs in Lumbumbashi and Nairobi respectively.
SAA said it had noted the reports of “a suspected haemorrhagic fever outbreak in a remote part of the Congo”.
SAA spokesperson Sarah Uys said if the situation worsened , passengers would be warned about a possible danger.
“But for now we don’t foresee problems,” she said.
Swanepoel said viruses such as ebola usually stem from war- torn areas, and regions where there was bad governance.
He said: “I can’t explain why this is, but this outbreak in the Congo is yet another in a long succession.”
Jaco Folmer, medical director of SAA-Netcare Travel Clinics, said the people most at risk were health workers in the affected areas.
In 1996, a nurse in Johannesburg was diagnosed with ebola haemorrhagic fever and a frantic search ensued to locate the source, a doctor in Gabon who had sought treatment for his illness in South Africa.
The nurse died, but the spread of the infection was prevented.
Folmer said the risk of contracting the virus was greater when travelling.
He said: “Infected people start bleeding from the nose and ears and [should be] kept in strict isolation.