Ebola

18 August 2014

 

Ebola Update: August 15, 2014

 

 Healix is closely monitoring the current outbreak of Ebola in West Africa, and will be sending regular updates and advice to our clients as the outbreak continues.

 

Update:

  • Korean Air announced that it will suspend flights to Kenya beginning on 20 August in order to prevent the spread of Ebola. 
  • Kenya Airways announced that it will not suspend operations in Ebola-affected countries, after reviewing advice from several domestic and international organizations.
  • Various health authorities are closely monitoring airline passengers for symptoms both within the affected region and at destination airports around the world. The risk of transmission of Ebola during air travel remains low and infected patients must be symptomatic in order to be contagious. Ebola is not airborne and can only be transmitted by direct contact with the body fluids of an infected, symptomatic person. In the event that someone on the aircraft is sick with Ebola the likelihood of other passengers and crew having contact with their body fluids is low.
  • Albanian authorities have placed five illegal immigrants, believed to be of Eritrean origin, under quarantine today after exhibiting symptoms of Ebola. Earlier today Serbian authorities also quarantined a symptomatic traveler from an unidentified Western African country, joining thirteen other travelers from the region currently under medical surveillance. Should these cases become laboratory confirmed they would represent the first uncontrolled instances of Ebola in Europe.
  • Guinea has a declared a national health emergency in an effort to curb the spread of the Ebola virus.
  • In comments issued today, Joanne Liu, the head of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), indicated it will take six months to get the upper hand on the epidemic. Her comments came after a 10-day trip to the region.


 Clinics and Facilities Status in Affected Areas

Healix is in direct communication with those medical facilities that are still operating in the impacted regions. Please contact Healix directly for further information on the readiness of medical facilities in these areas.


 

Country Travel Advice Status

Sierra Leone:        Warning Level 3 - Healix Recommend "Avoid Non-Essential Travel"

Guinea:                Warning Level 3 - Healix Recommend "Avoid Non-Essential Travel"

Liberia:                 Warning Level 3 - Healix Recommend "Avoid Non-Essential Travel"

Nigeria:                 Alert Level 2 - Healix Recommend "Practice Enhanced Precautions"

 

Other African Nations Unaffected by Ebola

Healix recommend that travelers take usual precautions with vaccinations and travel arrangements but should be familiar with "Ebola Precautions if Traveling to Africa."

  • Ebola Infection Table by Country:

Country

Suspected and Confirmed Case Count

Suspected and Confirmed Case Deaths

Laboratory Confirmed Cases

Sierra Leone

730

315

656

Liberia

599

373

362

Guinea

506

373

362

Nigeria

13

2

0

Benin

2

0

0

Spain*

1

1

0

United States*

2

0

2

Saudi Arabia*

0

1

0

TOTAL

1853

1065

1382

*Persons repatriated to these countries from affected countries

 

Infectious Disease and Pandemic Planning for your organization

 

Healix offer a free high level review of your current organizational plans in place to deal with pandemic and infectious disease outbreaks.

 

Previous update here

 

Please visit the Healix Ebola site for further information, updates and precautions. 

 

Please contact Healix with any questions at internationalhealthcare@healix.com


 

HX Global and Healix International Company are global leaders in international medical, security and travel assistance services. Working on behalf of Multi-National Corporations, Governments, NGO's and Insurers, Healix is relied upon to look after the welfare of millions of expatriates, business travelers and local nationals living and working in every country of the world, 24 hours a day. Many of these people reside in the most remote, challenging and hostile of environments. Last year, we responded to over 450,000 requests for medical assistance globally, managed over 35,000 acute in-patient cases in over 160 countries, and conducted over 2,200 aero-medical evacuations from over 110 countries.