APROPOS ‘Strategy devised to prevent spread of Ebola’ (Oct 16), there seems little awareness about Ebola virus among our citizens. The Ebola epidemic has the potential to transform into a frightening pandemic. International travellers fly into Pakistan daily and many Pakistanis work in African countries, including those in which the Ebola epidemic is currently raging.

Despite this, discussions about the risks of Ebola infection remain woefully absent in our media. The people need to know.

Ebola is highly contagious but not an airborne infection. It spreads through contact with bodily fluids — blood, vomit, feces, saliva — of those infected. The infection manifests with flu like symptoms beginning with fever and headache, sore throat and muscle pain. This is followed by diarrhoea, vomiting and stomach pain progressing to kidney and liver failure. Following initial exposure, it may take from two to 21 days for the symptoms to appear.

Currently no drug available can eradicate the Ebola virus. Vaccine trials are being fast tracked by GlaxoSmithKline in collaboration with the US and by NewLink Genetics working with the Canadian Public Health Agency. However, the vaccines are unlikely to be available until next year and their efficacy is uncertain to date.

The Ebola epidemic is currently cutting a swathe across the West African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone with 1,000 new cases reported each week and estimated mortality rates well over 60 per cent among those infected. In the last six months more than 4,000 people have died, mostly in Africa, with 10 per cent of the deaths occurring in healthcare workers thus devastating fragile health systems. Cases have also been reported from Nigeria, Senegal and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Last month a nurse in Spain and another two in the USA have contracted Ebola while taking care of infected patients arriving from Africa.

Pakistan cannot afford to be complacent about Ebola. Immediate, and practical, steps are required that should include mandatory temperature screening at international airports of individuals arriving from Africa and designation of specific hospitals with well-trained and appropriately, equipped staff for quarantining those suspected of exposure to Ebola. Equally important is for the media to help raise awareness, not create panic, within the public sphere about this infection.

Dr Farhat Moazam

Karachi

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I heard Pakistan’s state health minister commenting about Ebola on a TV channel where she mistakenly believed preventive measures can keep Ebola in check. Ebola is highly, highly contagious, and spreads through touching anything belonging to or used by the patient.

If this disease comes to Pakistan, it will cause mayhem. Ours is a heavily populated country with more than half being children. Children who are weak and malnourished are more vulnerable to Ebola infection.

Other factors which increase the risk factor for Pakistan are its high population density, lack of education, a weak and fragile health system, poverty, poor sanitation and no modern mechanism for waste disposal.

It won’t be easy to prevent and treat Ebola cases owing to a number of reasons like lack of equipment in hospitals and health centres.

Then there is food insecurity. If you quarantine people at home for 20 days how do you expect them to feed themselves and their families?

We need to do something on a war footing seriously.

Dr Jamil Ahmed

Arabian Gulf University,

Bahrain

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2014