DFA advises Filipinos in the US to know more about Ebola

By: Matikas Santos - 10 years ago

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) advised Filipinos in the United States (US) to keep themselves updated about the Ebola outbreak especially after cases have been reported in the US mainland.

“We are advising Filipinos in the US to know more about Ebola. To be informed is to be forewarned and they should heed whatever the advice of the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),” DFA spokesman assistant secretary Charles Jose said in a briefing Tuesday.

“We are confident that the CDC will be able to deal with the situation,” he said.

The first recorded case of Ebola in the US was in the state of Texas. The case was announced by the CDC last September 30, 2014.

Department of Foreign Affairs building. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

The patient is receiving treatment and all persons who have come in contact with the patient are also being closely monitored for any signs and symptoms of Ebola.

“We are stopping Ebola in its tracks in this country,” CDC Director Tom Frieden said in a statement published on their website.

“We can do that because of two things: strong infection control that stops the spread of Ebola in health care; and strong core public health functions to trace contacts, track contacts, isolate them if they have any symptoms and stop the chain of transmission. I am certain we will control this,” he said.

A Spanish nurse had also reportedly contracted the virus, which has already infected more than 7,000 people and killed nearly half of them. The nurse is the first recorded case of Ebola outside of the main Ebola outbreak epicenter in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reiterated its guidelines that Ebola is transmitted through “close and direct physical contact with infected bodily fluids, the most infectious being blood, feces and vomit.”

Ebola could also be transmitted through breast milk, urine, semen, saliva and tears, WHO said.

According to December 2012 figures of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO), there are nearly 3.5 million Filipinos in the US.

Majority of them, around 3.1 million are permanent residents while those with temporary work contracts number around 126,000 and those with irregular or undocumented status are 271,000.