Ebola: American Disease Control Centre issues travel warning to three countries

The CDC described the current outbreak of Ebola as the biggest and most complex.

The United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, on Thursday issued a level three travel warning to three West African countries that have recorded many cases of Ebola Disease Virus, EDV.

In a release by the organisation which has been on the front burner of the Ebola disease prevention and control, the travel warning is for Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The three countries have recorded high rates in the disease outbreak.

The CDC warned individuals to avoid non-essential travelling to these nations, where over 700 people have died from the disease and over 1,200 infected.

“The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today issued a warning to avoid nonessential travel to the West African nations of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. This Level 3 travel warning is a reflection of the worsening Ebola outbreak in this region,” the statement said.

The organization, however, said it is increasing its effort to control the continuous spread of the disease with its staff and EDV detectives on ground in these countries.

The CDC said the efforts include tracking the epidemic including using real-time data to improve response, improving case finding, Improving contact tracing, improving health communication and advising embassies.

Others include: Coordinating with the World Health Organization, WHO, and other partners and strengthening Ministries of Health and helping them establish emergency management systems.

The Director, CDC, Tom Frieden, said this particular Ebola outbreak is the biggest and most complex in history.

Mr. Frieden said while the spread of the disease can be stopped, it will take months and lots of effort s to achieve.

“This is the biggest and most complex Ebola outbreak in history. Far too many lives have been lost already. It will take many months, and it won’t be easy, but Ebola can be stopped. We know what needs to be done. CDC is surging our response, sending 50 additional disease control experts to the region in the next 30 days,” Mr. Frieden said.

The statement also said that efforts are not only expected to bring the outbreak under control but to also build stronger systems to prevent, detect and stop Ebola and other outbreaks before they spread.

The CDC is also assisting with active screening and education efforts on the ground in West Africa to prevent sick travellers from getting on planes.

These include notification to CDC of ill passengers on a plane before arrival, investigation of ill travellers, and, if necessary, quarantine. CDC also provides guidance to airlines for managing ill passengers and crew and for disinfecting aircraft.

The organization also noted that Ebola is not contagious until symptoms appear, and that transmission is through direct contact of bodily fluids of an infected, symptomatic person or exposure to objects like needles that have been contaminated with infected secretions.