UNAMID steps up Ebola preventive measures in Sudan
September 21, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – The African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) has put in place preventive measures to safeguard against Ebola epidemic in Sudan.
“The mission is monitoring the global situation of the spread of Ebola and is working closely with the local, regional and federal health authorities of the Republic of the Sudan to safeguard against Ebola along the lines prescribed by WHO [World Health Organisation],” UNAMID said in a statement.
On 9 September, UNAMID advised its contractors to restrict travel of their staff to countries declared to be Ebola-affected. The outbreak has grown to 5,335 cases in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria and Senegal with 2,622 deaths, WHO said.
The move, the UN body said, was part of its mission’s effort to preclude even the remote possibility of the disease entering Sudan.
Already, a team from the federal ministry of health reportedly visited UNAMID’s medical section and inspected the facilities and level of preparedness of the Mission to prevent and combat the disease. Following the visit, however, UNAMID received a letter from the North Darfur state ministry of health expressing satisfaction with the measures and facilities the mission put in place to prevent Ebola.
All UNAMID personnel travelling to and from West Africa reportedly have to undergo strict medical procedures with UN-certified medical staff before their departure to West Africa, prior to their return to Sudan and yet again upon their return to the Mission.
“There have not been any recorded or suspected cases of Ebola among UNAMID’s personnel,” the mission said in its statement.
The Ebola outbreak now raging in West Africa is reportedly the largest since the virus was first discovered in 1976.
(ST)