By SANCHESKA BROWN
Tribune Staff Reporter
sbrown@tribunemedia.net
THE government has prepared a 42-page document that outlines exactly what “needs to be done” and “what will be done” should the Ebola virus reach Bahamian shores, Health Minister Dr Perry Gomez said yesterday.
Dr Gomez said the report, which has been worked on for months, is just a part of a national health protocol established by the Ministry of Health and the Department of Public Health, in collaboration with its private and public partners to deal with significant public health threats such as Ebola.
“Ministry of Health has a plan to address the Ebola issue,” he told The Tribune. “It is a plan that has been developed over a period of months and a lot of work has gone into it.
“It is a thick document, about 40 pages, and so anybody who is out there espousing that the ministry has not done anything is not telling the truth.”
Dr Gomez was responding to concerns from FNM Deputy Chairman Dr Duane Sands who last week questioned the government’s ability to deal with an Ebola crisis.
He accused the government of being “slow” to execute an effective policy to minimise the risk of the Ebola virus.
Dr Sands, who is also a cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon, said the possibility of a person who has been exposed to Ebola who then travels to the Bahamas is “remote” but real.
He said while many countries have instituted precautionary measures to mitigate the spread of the virus, there has been no proactive strategy implemented in this country. However, public health officials have maintained there are protocols in place to identify people with the virus and properly isolate and treat them.
Dr Sands’ comments came after a man in Dallas, Texas, died after testing positive for the Ebola virus. Thomas Duncan travelled to the US from Liberia on September 19 and died on October 8.
A Dallas nurse who came in contact with him has also now tested positive for the virus. The US Centres for Disease Control said the nurse may have contracted the virus due to a “protocol breach”.
A teenage boy from West Africa was hospitalised in Miami Dade with Ebola symptoms last week. However, according to international press reports, the teen, who has not been identified, tested negative in a preliminary exam conducted by the Florida Department of Health’s lab in Miami.
Last month, a Ukrainian man working on a freighter en route to New Orleans from The Congo, West Africa, was airlifted to Nassau showing signs of illness. He died in Doctors Hospital two days after his arrival.
However, the Centres for Disease Control confirmed that the man died from malaria and not the Ebola virus.
Local health officials have maintained that they have protocols in place in case of an Ebola diagnosis in this country.
Last week, Dr Gerry Eijkemans, the Pan American Health Organisation’s country representative for the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos, said she believed health services in the country are ready to respond and effectively manage a local case.
Comments
John 9 years, 6 months ago
The biggest problems Bahamians may face is the after care and behavior of patients who recover from the Ebola disease. It has been documented that the virus can be present in the sperm of a recovered patient for up to three months months: . " Survivors of Ebola often face stigma and fear from community members who worry they might spread the disease after leaving the hospital. These fears are almost entirely misplaced. Once someone has recovered from the virus, they cannot infect others through handshakes, hugs, or kisses. Their sweat isn't contagious. Even the vomit, urine, and feces of the disease's survivors has been shown to be Ebola free.There are, however, a couple important exceptions. In particular, research into past outbreaks shows that the semen of survivors may carry the virus for weeks, or even months, after they recover.
For instance, a 1977 study of an outbreak in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo found Ebola in the semen of one survivor 61 days after the onset of his disease. And a 1999 study found the virus in an Ebola survivor's semen 82 days after he first became ill. That study recommended that survivors use condoms for "at least" three months after contracting the disease."
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More MoJo coverage of the Ebola crisis.
Liberians Explain Why the Ebola Crisis Is Way Worse Than You Think
These Maps Show How Ebola Spread In Liberia
Why the World Health Organization Doesn't Have Enough Funds to Fight Ebola
New Drugs and Vaccines Can't Stop This Ebola Outbreak
We Are Making Ebola Outbreaks Worse by Cutting Down Forests*
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John 9 years, 6 months ago
Chocolate ma be amongst the first food products to become scarce or even banned because of Ebola. Much of the cocoa used to make chocolate comes from the part of Africa that I being hit hardest by Ebola.
ohdrap4 9 years, 6 months ago
By something, people likely mean equipment for screening and handling patients, testing supplies,
40 pages? I can do that from my armchair and a google search. Or you can hire, John who posted ebola stuff above in 2 minutes.
Now if you catch malaria, go to another country. many years ago, they gave chemotehrapy to a malaria patient, who eventually died. they don't know how to recognize malaria in this country.
It takes at least a week for people to be " diagnosed" with ebola, in the meantime they be infectious about the place.
ThisIsOurs 9 years, 6 months ago
Was just thinking about this today, can you imagine the havoc in this country if someone in one of those shanty towns became infected? They'd go to the hospital waiting room where they would sit for minimum twelve hours before seeing anybody, God knows how many people would sit in the same chair as them turn the same door knob. His many children would pass and wipe their noses or rub their eyes.. And of course they caught the bus there...did they have running water or where they using an outside toilet where the virus could then potentially contaminate some water system. We eehn ready. We can't be. Even the great USA with all their spaceman suits and years of preparation weren't ready to handle one man.
ThisIsOurs 9 years, 6 months ago
How many people have read the 42 page report in full? How many of the nurses who will be in the front line have read the report? I wish they wouldn't fallback on the old the "report is being prepared" explanation.
ThisIsOurs 9 years, 6 months ago
last week, Dr Gerry Eijkemans, the Pan American Health Organisation’s country representative for the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos, said she believed health services in the country are ready to respond and effectively manage a local case.
Foolishness. Maybe this is what they "have" to say to allay fears, the truth is, you just doing know. Has this lady ever waited in accident and emergency? Because more than likely that is where the sick person will end up.
John 9 years, 6 months ago
The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that Ebola cases can escalate to 10,000 (TEN THOUSAND) a week by December. And that is just in the West African Countries alone. Compare that to now where there have been 8,000 plus cases of Ebola, worldwide and 4,500 deaths. The mortality rate is also increasing: Seventy percent of persons who got Ebola survived. Now only 50% are beating the disease. Personally I think they should isolate or quarantine heath care workers who have direct contact with Ebola patients for at least a week. Case in point: The nurse in Dallas went home and had intimate contact with her boyfriend before she showed symptoms of the virus. then he made contact with other people, family and co worker. Now there is talk that he is showing symptoms..so now many more people may have to be screened, isolated or treated. Even America and Spain is a 'learn as you go" mode as they have not yet determined how health care workers contracted the disease, despite following precautions that included biohazard gear. Our hospital here is full or elderly patients, many of whom should be receiving geriatric care. Imagine an outbreak at PMH. I suggest finding an isolated place now to treat and examine persons suspected of having the virus rather than running the risk of exposing our primary health care facility to contamination. And yes the shanty towns do present a special concern due to many persons living in close quarters with the absence of proper sanitation. If someone presents with the virus, most likely they will wait until it is in a full blown stage before seeking treatment. By then they ma have contaminated the entire village. Not only that but some shanty town residents work in restaurants, at the Fish Fry, in private homes, even in Lyford cay and Old Fort Bay!
ThisIsOurs 9 years, 6 months ago
Exactly how many dialysis machines do we have? What's the wait time to get on one? How many beds are available in a completely isolated area in the hospital with a separate air circulation system? These people should start talking reality and not spewing nonsense from some forty page fairy tale. If Ebola hits the ?Bahamas were are in trouble with the state of our health care system as it stands today.
Well_mudda_take_sic 9 years, 6 months ago
Dis be frightening' stuff! Dem NSA, CIA, FBI an' CDC people always does say bio-terrorism comin' real soon ta a door knob that only da most important ones amongst da political elite ones does put dere hand on erry day!
ThisIsOurs 9 years, 6 months ago
We aren't anywhere ready for this, how many public service announcements have been issued in creole? Or posted in known shanty towns?
SP 9 years, 6 months ago
How many doctors and nurses have been trained to deal with Ebola? How much protective gear is readily available? Who set the Ebola protocols? Why was this such a big secret?
Over 80% of U.S. nurses are complaining that they know of no protocols and have had no training with dealing with Ebola.
Can ANYBODY out there really be stupid enough to believe the Bahamas government is better prepared than the United States government for dealing with Ebola?
The fact that government would make such a stupid assertion is even more scary than Ebola itself as it proves they are totally unprepared.
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