News / Health
Beitbridge border post screen 276 for Ebola, places 22 under surveillance
13 Nov 2014 at 06:35hrs | Views
PORT health authorities at Beitbridge border post have screened a total of 276 visitors and placed 22 under surveillance for 42 days since the beginning of the Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa in March this year, an official has said.
Speaking during a National Health Care Trust Ebola sensitisation meeting in Beitbridge yesterday the District Environmental Health Officer, Noto Dube, said all those screened had entered the country from South Africa. He said the district rapid response team was on high alert for the deadly disease that has killed almost 10,000 people in West Africa.
At the height of the disease outbreak the Ministry of Health and Child Care set up an Ebola monitoring and surveillance office within the border post.
An isolation centre equipped with four beds and other key accessories including protective clothing for health workers was also set up at the International Organisation for Migration Reception and Support centre which is 5km east of the border post.
About 170,000 travellers pass through Beitbridge border post (entry and exit) per month.
Dube said all those who had been put under surveillance had tested negative of the Ebola virus.
He said they were using the epidemiology history of the areas they (travellers) had visited during the screening process.
"All stakeholders at the border post have basic training on the screening process of people who have travelled to West Africa or areas where the virus was detected before. When people get to the border post they first report to the immigration officers who upon checking their movement history will refer them for further management to our Port Health Officers", he said.
Dube said they were continually engaging their South African counterparts in cases where people were being sent back to the Zimbabwe side of the border for screening. On several occasions, South African immigration officers at Beitbridge border post have reportedly turned away truck drivers plying the Democratic Republic of Congo route.
The drivers mainly Zimbabweans, Congolese, Malawians and Zambians are told to go back to the Zimbabwean side of the border for screening.
The South Africans often turn the travellers away although they would have already been screened by the Zimbabwean authorities.
In some cases border authorities are issuing certificates to those travellers screened for Ebola enroute to the neighbouring country.
"We have been carrying out sensitisation meetings on Ebola in the district and have lined up a number of awareness meetings with commercial sex workers, customs clearing agents and other people who have a regular interface with people travelling from the Ebola hit areas such as truck drivers", he said.
Dube said they were awaiting delivery of infrared thermometers which would help the port health officers during the screening process.
He said the thermometers had the capacity to take an individual's body temperature from a distance.
Speaking during a National Health Care Trust Ebola sensitisation meeting in Beitbridge yesterday the District Environmental Health Officer, Noto Dube, said all those screened had entered the country from South Africa. He said the district rapid response team was on high alert for the deadly disease that has killed almost 10,000 people in West Africa.
At the height of the disease outbreak the Ministry of Health and Child Care set up an Ebola monitoring and surveillance office within the border post.
An isolation centre equipped with four beds and other key accessories including protective clothing for health workers was also set up at the International Organisation for Migration Reception and Support centre which is 5km east of the border post.
About 170,000 travellers pass through Beitbridge border post (entry and exit) per month.
Dube said all those who had been put under surveillance had tested negative of the Ebola virus.
He said they were using the epidemiology history of the areas they (travellers) had visited during the screening process.
"All stakeholders at the border post have basic training on the screening process of people who have travelled to West Africa or areas where the virus was detected before. When people get to the border post they first report to the immigration officers who upon checking their movement history will refer them for further management to our Port Health Officers", he said.
The drivers mainly Zimbabweans, Congolese, Malawians and Zambians are told to go back to the Zimbabwean side of the border for screening.
The South Africans often turn the travellers away although they would have already been screened by the Zimbabwean authorities.
In some cases border authorities are issuing certificates to those travellers screened for Ebola enroute to the neighbouring country.
"We have been carrying out sensitisation meetings on Ebola in the district and have lined up a number of awareness meetings with commercial sex workers, customs clearing agents and other people who have a regular interface with people travelling from the Ebola hit areas such as truck drivers", he said.
Dube said they were awaiting delivery of infrared thermometers which would help the port health officers during the screening process.
He said the thermometers had the capacity to take an individual's body temperature from a distance.
Source - Chroncle
