Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus has protocols in place to deal with Ebola cases and would follow established procedures in the event of an infection, epidemiologist Petros Karayiannis said on Saturday.
Response measures
Speaking to CNA about the Ebola outbreak in Central Africa, Karayiannis said Cyprus had previously implemented protocols for such cases and would activate them again if necessary. He said the priority in an imported case would be the immediate isolation of the suspected patient and the implementation of strict biosecurity measures.
“What is important is the complete isolation of the suspected case and the implementation of biosecurity measures to protect doctors, nurses and the general population, so that there is no further spread,” he said.
Transmission and screening
Karayiannis said Ebola is transmitted only through very close contact with bodily fluids such as saliva, tears, urine, faeces and blood. He said any cases outside Central Africa, where outbreaks occur periodically, would likely be imported.
He said people arriving from affected countries should undergo thorough screening regarding their travel history and the places they visited to determine whether they may have been exposed.
Current outbreak
Karayiannis said the current outbreak appears more serious than some previous outbreaks. He said the strain responsible for the outbreak has caused one or two outbreaks in the past and is associated with a more aggressive form of the disease.
He said there is currently no vaccine available for this particular strain and that treatment depends largely on managing the symptoms.