Thailand mandates 21-day Ebola quarantine for DRC, Uganda arrivals

BANGKOK: Thailand imposed on Tuesday a 21-day quarantine order for people travelling from or having transited through the Democratic Republic of Congo or Uganda, where a deadly Ebola crisis is surging.

The eastern DRC is ground zero for an Ebola outbreak which has sparked an international health alert by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Since Kinshasa declared an outbreak on May 15, the illness has caused 204 deaths and 867 suspected cases, according to a toll given over the weekend by the DRC’s health ministry.

In neighbouring Uganda, one person has died, with a further six confirmed infected.

Travellers with or without “symptoms of Ebola infection must be quarantined at least 21 days”, Thailand’s public health ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

Ebola is a deadly viral disease that spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids. It can cause severe bleeding and organ failure.

Thailand has not reported any Ebola-affected travellers but there was risk from global population movement, senior public health ministry official Somlerk Jeungsmarn said in the statement.

Those with Ebola symptoms must quarantine at a designated state hospital, while those without symptoms would be required to stay at an unspecified quarantine site, the ministry said.

The WHO has recorded 10 confirmed Ebola deaths and 220 suspected deaths in the DRC since mid-May, while also recording a further 900 suspected cases.

The United Nations agency said the true spread of the virus — which experts suspect was circulating under the radar for some time — was probably much wider.

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