OFWs from Ebola-hit countries urged to be ‘responsible,’ report symptoms immediately

Filipino workers returning from countries with reported Ebola outbreak should be “responsible” and immediately report to authorities if they are experiencing symptoms, an infectious disease especialist said Tuesday.

In a press conference, Dr. Ludovico Jurao of the Philippine Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases noted that it is “human nature” for several OFWs to withhold the information out of fear.

“Kung ikaw ang OFW, you should be responsible. The responsibility lies doon sa person from the affected areas,” he said.

Symptoms of Ebola virus include high fever, headache, joint and muscle pains, sore throat, weakness, stomach pain and lack of appetite.

Jurao said there may be less chances for the virus to spread if it's contained immediately, since it is not airborne and is instead passed on from one person to another through body fluids.

However, the typical Filipino family's disposition to take care of their sick loved ones may result in a faster spread of the disease in the Philippines, especially if the carrier of the virus does not disclose even the possibility that he or she has been infected.

“By the time the diagnosis is made or confirmed, baka marami nang nahawa,” Jurao said.

According to the World Health Organization, the incubation period—or interval from infection to onset of symptoms—for Ebola is two to 21 days.

Among the diseases that should be ruled out before a diagnosis is made include malaria, typhoid fever, cholera, meningitis, and hepatitis, along with "other vital haemorrhagic fevers."

The country remains free of the deadly virus, which has killed 1,013 people in the worst outbreak that is happening in Western Africa, particularly in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia.

The Philippine government has already imposed a deployment ban on new hires in the three countries last July, and advised the nearly 4,000 Filipinos there to prepare for possible evacuation.Filipino seafarers are also barred from going on shore leave in the affected areas.

Early this month, seven OFWs who were repatriated from Sierra Leone had tested negative from the virus. —KBK, GMA News

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