PH heightens monitoring of ebola outbreak

More than 3,000 EVD cases and nearly 2,000 deaths from the disease were already recorded in Congo since its outbreak in July 2018, according to reports. #ebolaoutbreak

Rinsing Ebola protective gear in Beni, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (UN photo)

The Philippine government has heightened monitoring of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it as a public health emergency of international concern.

The Department of Health, its Bureau of Quarantine, the Bureau of Immigration, the Civil Aeronautics Board and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration are spearheading the monitoring.

However, Labor Secretary Bello III said the government is not yet restricting the deployment of Filipinos in Congo due to the absence of a labor office in the African country.

“We don’t have POLO office there. We will rely completely from the information from the DFA,” said Bello.

So far, Bello said they have not received any information from the DFA yet.

More than 3,000 EVD cases and nearly 2,000 deaths from the disease were already recorded in Congo since its outbreak in July 2018, according to reports.

The WHO described EVD, formerly known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, as a rare but severe and often fatal illness in humans.

The virus can be transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission.

Symptoms of EVD are fever, fatigue, muscle pain, headache and sore throat which could be followed by vomiting, diarrhea, rashes and symptoms of impaired kidney and liver function.

In 2014, West Africa recorded the largest Ebola outbreak since the virus was first discovered in 1976. The outbreak lasted until 2016.