WHO allays fears about air travel
Ebola transmission requires close contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person, as can occur during health-care procedures.
THE United Nations World Health Organisation (WHO) has allayed fears amid reports that airlines are suspending flights over the Ebola outbreak, by sending out social media messages with assurances that “unlike infections like influenza and tuberculosis, Ebola is not airborne”.
On Wednesday this week a BBM hoax spread like wildfire saying an Ebola patient had died as a result of the disease at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Phoenix.
The Ebola virus is highly contagious – but not airborne. Transmission requires close contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person, as can occur during health-care procedures, home care, or traditional burial practices, which involve the close contact of family members and friends with bodies.
However the WHO tweeted on Thursday that “the chance of having someone who is sick with Ebola getting in a plane is small. Usually when someone is sick with Ebola, they are so unwell that they can’t travel.”
According to the latest WHO update, between 10 and 11 August, 128 new cases of Ebola virus disease, as well as 56 deaths, were reported from Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone, bringing the total number of cases to 1 975 and deaths to 1 069.
SAA continues to fly to West Africa
Meanwhile, on Thursday, South African Airways (SAA) said they would continue operating in West Africa. The national airline flies to five destinations in West Africa, namely Abidjan (Ivory Coast); Accra (Ghana); Cotonou (Benin); Dakar (Senegal) and Lagos (Nigeria).
SAA spokesperson Tlali Tlali, said there “should be no general ban on international travel or trade” to that region.
“Having noted the announcement by WHO, SAA has stepped up measures aimed at protecting its passengers, crew and ground staff,” said Tlali. “There is no travel ban to any of these destinations as a result of the outbreak of the virus in that region. The airline remains committed to ensuring the enforcement of international health protocols associated with air transport,” said Tlali.
Each of SAA’s aircraft has been equipped with special protective gear for crew on board to wear and to enable them to respond to any passengers suspected of having been infected, or displaying the listed symptoms that include sweating, nose bleeding or vomiting.
There is also a special biohazard waste disposal kit intended for the safe disposal of waste.
