The Department of Health (DOH) is working closely with the World Health Organization (WHO) after the latter declared the Ebola disease caused by the Bundibugyo virus in the countries of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
Health Secretary Ted Herbosa said despite this announcement, Filipinos should not worry about the declaration made by the WHO. The DOH in coordination with the Bureau of Quarantine and the Epidemiology Bureau have already established strict protocols to guard the country’s borders against the said disease.
Herbosa explained that Ebola only spreads if an individual has direct contact with bodily fluids from an infected person or by a patient who died from the disease.
He added that Ebola is not an airborne disease.
The WHO has recorded 246 Ebola cases and several deaths in Congo and two confirmed cases in Uganda.