Hanoi (VNA) – Screenings will be intensifiedat border gates and hospitals to early detect people suspected to contractdeadly virus Ebola, particularly those who return from affected areas.

The information was heard during a meeting held by theMinistry of Health’s Vietnam Public Health Emergency Operation Centre (PHEOCVietnam) on May 31 to assess the risk of Ebola outbreak in Vietnam and seek properpreventive measures.

The meeting concluded that the overall risk of theEbola virus spreading into Vietnam is low as most of Ebola cases werediscovered in Congo’s very remote areas and there are very few trade andexchange activities between Vietnam and Congo. However, there is still thepossibility of cases involving people entering Vietnam from the affectedregion.

To prevent a possible epidemic, hospitals were taskedto strengthen infection prevention and control and to prepare an isolation areaexclusively for Ebola suspected cases.

The Ministry of Health will continue liaising with theWHO to keep a close watch on the Ebola epidemic globally and at the same time,work closely with relevant ministries and state bodies to share information onthe epidemic, and entry and exit of travellers from the affected areas in orderto take appropriate and effective preventive actions.

Ebola is a highly infectious disease that spreadsthrough contact with even a small amount of bodily fluid of an infected person.Its early flu-like symptoms are not always easy to detect.

According to the International Health Regulations NationalFocal Point (IHRNFP) and representatives from the World Health Organisation(WHO), the outbreak of Ebola virus disease has returned to Congo since thebeginning of April.

By May 29, a cumulative total of 58 Ebola cases, including 27 deaths, have beenreported. Most of the cases were found in the remote areas of Bikoro, Iboko andWangata, far away from the capital city of Kinshasa, where travelling is noteasy with very few visitors.

There isno case reported in neighbouring countries and other parts of the world.

The WHOhas convened an emergency committee to discuss the epidemic, assessing that theEbola outbreak in Congo to be at level 3, the highest alert level. Though the level indicates there is a high risk of the virus spreadingto nearby countries, it is insufficient for the WHO to announce a public healthemergency of international concern (PHEIC). The world health body also stressedthat it was “particularly important there should be no international travel andtrade restrictions”.

The current outbreak - the ninth to hit Congo sinceEbola was identified in 1976 - involves the same strain of the virus thatstruck three West African countries in 2013-15 and sparked an internationalpanic. It went on to kill more than 11,300 people in the deadliest ever Ebolaepidemic.-VNA