Health department refutes Ebola report
No Ebola patient at Richards Bay port or anywhere else in KZN, says Health Department.
‘THERE has been no suspected or confirmed case of Ebola in KwaZulu-Natal’.
These were the words of the KZN Health Department spokesperson Desmond Motha this morning in response to rampant rumours that a patient suspected of having Ebola at Durban’s Addington Hospital arrived by vessel at the Port of Richards Bay this week.
Motha confirmed that Addington is indeed the only hospital in the province with the essential facilities to treat positive Ebola cases.
However, he called any reports of a suspected Ebola patient ‘absolutely incorrect’.
The disease has so far taken 4920 lives globally, with the number of positive cases having risen to 13 703 across eight affected countries, including Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and more recently the United States, Spain and Mali.
Preventative measures
In August, the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) sent a message out to all port users stating it ‘is aware of the Ebola threat and is on the alert’.
‘Should there be a concern of crew suspected to be suffering from a communicable disease on board a ship; port health authorities will put in place the controls and measures required to contain it.
‘Should a captain report that he suspects a case of a communicable disease, for example Ebola, on board, the ship would be quarantined outside the port for 7 to 14 days until the suspected case has been confirmed as clear,’ TNPA said.
