Health ministry urges localities to strengthen Ebola surveillance and preparedness

During an online meeting with localities on Friday, the ministry said no infection cases have been recorded in Viet Nam and the risk of Ebola's spread from Congo and Uganda to Viet Nam remains low.

However, Ebola virus disease is a severe and often fatal illness with a historical case fatality rate of up to 90 percent, said the ministry.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on May 17, determined that the Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda constitutes a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), but does not meet the criteria of pandemic emergency.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, as of May 18, the number of infection cases reached 516, including 131 deaths, said Hoang Minh Duc, Director-General of the Disease Prevention Department under the Ministry of Health.

Meanwhile, Uganda reported two infection cases returning from the Democratic Republic of Congo, he added.

The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals (such as fruit bats, porcupines and non-human primates) and then spreads in the human population through direct contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with surfaces and materials (e.g. bedding, clothing) contaminated with these fluids.

The first Ebola disease outbreaks occurred in remote villages in Central Africa, near tropical rainforests. The 2014–2016 Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa was the largest and most complex Ebola outbreak since the virus was first discovered in 1976./.