Are we geared to prevent Ebola from invading Zimbabwe?

...as the Ebola vector spreads like veld fire in West Africa

As the war against diseases across the globe rages on, human kind seem to be losing the plot as contagious viruses keep on assaulting civilisation and threaten to wipe it from the face of the earth.

After years of hard work trying to contain incurable diseases without success, the world is faced with yet another challenge in the form of Ebola, and the situation is demanding great wisdom to deal with.

Ebola virus was first recognised in 1976 in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where it claimed many lives and later spread to other countries, with the highest prevalence in West Africa that is currently viewed as the epicentre by health experts.

The situation has been exacerbated by high immigration rates since the disease is highly contagious.

According to WHO report of 4 August 2014, Ebola has claimed 569 lives in West Africa with Sierra Leon leading with 286, followed by Liberia with 282 and Nigeria with 1 victim. The social media puts the death toll at more than one thousand across the globe.

Zimbabwe is one of the countries that are vulnerable to the disease owing to its porous border posts and the health sector that has been crippled by the economic meltdown induced by illegal western sanctions.

Ministry of Health and Child Care director of pathology, Dr. Max Hove says Ebola is a deadly disease which must not be allowed to find its way into the country.

"Ebola is a haemorrhagic fever which is caused by a virus which attacks the human blood system. It is highly contagious and it can be transmitted through contact with body fluids such as semen, blood, sweat, saliva or other body discharges," says Dr. Hove.

He posits that signs and symptoms of Ebola typically start to develop about four to six days after a person becomes infected with the Ebola virus.

"Common signs of Ebola include fever, stomach pain, vomiting, and a dry hacking cough. Other signs and symptoms of Ebola include rash, red eyes, and internal and external bleeding. In pregnant women, miscarriage and heavy vaginal bleeding are common Ebola symptoms. Death usually occurs during the second week of Ebola symptoms. Death in Ebola victims is usually due to massive blood loss," he says.

The major worry is whether the country is fully equipped to prevent the disease from breaching Zimbabwe's borders but Dr Hove argues that his ministry is ready to deal with Ebola.

"We may not have state of the art equipment such as infrared equipment you see in other countries to screen people for Ebola.

"Our port health officials are currently undergoing training so that they will be able to screen people upon their arrival," says Dr Hove.

He contends that although there are places of quarantine at international airports and border posts, government has set Wilkins hospital as the national quarantine centre where all people suspected of having been infected with Ebola will be closely monitored without interaction with the public.

The situation on the ground is that, port health officials are focusing more on visitors from West Africa.

There is no guarantee that Ebola virus cannot pass through our borders because of the absence of effective screening mechanisms at our border posts because Ebola might not spread directly from West Africa to Zimbabwe.

It may pass unnoticed through neighbouring countries if there are no effective health and security systems in place. As it stands, a valid passport and other proper documents items are the only requirements for one to enter the country if the person is not coming from West Africa.

Zimbabwe is faced with yet another challenge as its security personnel are currently in Liberia on a peace keeping mission where 282 cases of Ebola were recorded according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

President Robert Mugabe, while addressing the Central Committee meeting recently in Harare, said there is need to take precautions.

"We have our people serving with the UN units in Liberia. Are they safe? We need to take precautions. Let us not expose ourselves. Even when we withdraw our people, the question is have they not been affected by the disease already," said President Mugabe.

Since 1976, the year when the first case of Ebola was recorded, Western countries like United Kingdom and United States of America have seen it as a problem synonymous with Africans.

They only began to take the issue seriously after two Americans, Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, aid workers who were working in Liberia, got infected by Ebola.

Some suspect foul play. Social commentator, Dr. Tafataona Mahoso, argues that there is a link between Ebola and the whites because it is occurring in West African countries where there is war perpetrated by the Western countries.

"Ebola is following countries where there is war. We have Ebola in countries such as Sierra Leon, Liberia, DRC and Nigeria, is it a natural phenomenon? Those countries that were behind those wars must be answerable to this disease.
"Two Americans who were infected by Ebola in Liberia received medication called "secret serum" in America and have showed progress in their conditions but these Americans did not bother themselves when African victims were dying." says Dr. Mahoso.
As the fear of Ebola grips many nations, travellers from Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia are facing movement restrictions by countries like Zambia as a desperate measure to evade Ebola threat.

In several countries across the globe passengers from countries which are considered the epicentre of Ebola are reportedly screened and when found infected they will be quarantined.

The question in everyone's mind is whether Zimbabwe can successfully prevent the proliferation of Ebola from occupying its territories with porous border posts and ineffective disease control mechanisms at the entry ports.

There are some cases of smuggling and illegal entry activities at the borders and this may compromise the country's efforts to combat Ebola.

Illegal migrants are using Kanyemba area to link Zimbabwe and Zambia as well as Chikafa and Chidodo to link Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

Minister of Home Affairs, Kembo Mohadi, has allayed fears of an epidemic outbreak, arguing the country's borders are well secured.

"Our borders are ever right, what is needed is public education about Ebola by the Ministry of Health and Child Care.
"Currently, we are not allowing people who are travelling to our country from West Africa to enter our borders without being screened for Ebola," says the Minister.

Minister Mohadi refuted that threats of Ebola might be worsened by border jumpers and illegal migrants to the country saying those migrants and border jumpers were from Southern Africa where there is a clean record on Ebola cases.
Not only the officials are clueless but citizens are also captives of ignorance.

"We last heard about Ebola in the early 90s in Democratic Republic of Congo. I vividly remember Zimbabwe losing a soccer match to DRC and it was alleged that our soccer players failed to win the match because they were afraid to get into contact with their opponents," said Pfungwa Nyambawaro of Waterfalls.

Ebola alerts are awash on social networks but people tend to dismiss these as not important and nonchalantly continue with their businesses.