Ebola cases not in our region, RC assures Rukwa residents

PETI SIYAME in Sumbawanga

THE Rukwa Regional Commissioner (RC), Mr Joachim Wangabo has assured residents in the region that there are no Ebola cases in the area after previous reports, saying that preventive measures have been taken in all border areas.

Since the disease was reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in northern Kivu province recently, 91 people are confirmed to be infected. The RC told the ‘Daily News’ during a phone interview on Wednesday night that his office is doing everything in its capacity to ensure citizens in the region remain safe from the scourge.

Similarly, since early this year, the region has so far dispatched medical kits and health workers to villages along the shoreline of Lake Tanganyika as well as embarking on an Ebola sensitisation mission which involves holding a series of public rallies.

“We have embarked on sensitisation missions by holding a series of public rallies, but although the outbreak of the disease has not yet been reported in the region, we urge our people to be extra careful by being vigilant over people from neighboring DRC entering into the country,” added the RC.

Mr Wangabo further directed councillors, especially those whose precincts are bordering with DRC, to work closely with immigration units to ensure that people from DRC are not entering into the country arbitrarily.

On his part, the Acting Rukwa Regional Medical Officer (RMO), Dr Emanuel Mtika cautioned that Ebola is a swiftly spreading, fast-killing disease and could cause serious health consequences for citizens.

According to Dr Mtika, symptoms of Ebola include fever, severe headache, muscle pain, weakness, fatigue, diarrhoea, vomiting, abdominal (stomach) pain and unexplained haemorrhage (bleeding or bruising).

“Symptoms may appear anywhere from 2 to 21 days after exposure to Ebola, but the average is eight to 10 days....” added Dr Mtika.

Medical experience recounts that recovery from Ebola depends on good supportive clinical care and the patient’s immune response, and that people who recover from Ebola infection develop antibodies that last for at least 10 years.

Ebola, according to medical literature, is a rare but deadly virus that causes bleeding inside and outside the body. As the virus spreads through the body, it damages the immune system and organs. Ultimately, it causes levels of blood-clotting cells to drop.

This leads to severe, uncontrollable bleeding. The disease, also known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever or Ebola virus, kills up to 90 per cent of people who are infected. It is the tenth time Ebola has struck the DRC since 1976.

It has had twice as many outbreaks as any other country. Vaccines are providing new hope, with education filling in where medicine cannot.