Health Minister Adel Adawy said in a press conference at the National Training Center on Monday that Egypt is free of Ebola and that the virus is contained until now in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria, where 1,779 cases have been discovered.
The minister pointed out that there is no drug or vaccine for the virus for humans or animals so far, explaining that the virus causes a severe hemorrhagic fever that can kill 25 to 90 percent of infected patients.
Adawy said the ministry took precautionary measures in coordination with other ministries including the foreign affairs, aviation and nterior and that the Abbassia hospital was prepared to be the main hospital to receive suspected cases.
“We have printed 20,000 brochures for passengers departing to or arriving from infected countries,” he said, adding that there is also a hotline for queries. “We have also posted information about the virus on our website.”
Meanwhile, Cairo Airport authorities isolated a 41-year-old Egyptian passenger from Kafr al-Sheikh who was arriving from Sierra Leone via Morocco on suspicion of having contracted the virus. He was suffering from a very high fever.
For his part, Dr. Amr Kandil of the Preventive Medicine Department said the passenger contracted Malaria and not Ebola.
“There are no suspected cases of Ebola in Egypt so far,” he confirmed.
The World Health Organization has declared Ebola a global emergency.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
