“If the Cuban people know about Eloba virus, how to protect themselves, and fulfill the measures passed by the country, we are giving an important step in the prevention of the outbreak in Cuba,” said the director of the Institute of Tropical Medicine (IPK), Jose Angel Portal, and vice minister of Public Health in an interview to Trabajadores Newspaper.
“We should give gradual information to the population, according to the risk. In this period, we should need to know which are the countries affected, so we can prevent unnecessary trips to nations with transmission of the virus, the symptoms that characterize it, and how you can be infected.
Ebola is only transmitted when the patients has the symptoms. There is neither specific treatment nor vaccine with available license to use it in human beings, which turns it into an illness with high risk. Personal and environmental hygiene should strengthen to prevent its spreading, and informed health competent authorities if there is any alleged infected person coming from an affected country.
“Contagious goes people to people. The direct contact with corporal secretions from infected people is considered the main way of transmitting this disease. It can also by objects with are contaminated with these secretions. The incubation period is from two to 21 days.
The main symptoms are: sudden fever, intense weakness, muscle pains, headache and sore throat that follow vomiting, diarrheas, skin eruption, deterioration of renal and hepatic functions. In advance period, there are internal and external bleedings. Its spreading is not conditioned by the existence of vectors or unfavorable environmental conditions.
“If there is any case with these symptoms in Cuba, it should immediately go to the doctor and follow the sanitary measures.
“Cuba has a National Prevention and Fighting Plan against Ebola virus, according to the principal international experiences and those the country has in the prevention of contagious diseases.
The Strategy
“The national plan’s goal is to consolidate a group of sanitary measures which will guarantee in the current situation and as soon as possible, the preparation to minimize the risks in the introduction, transmission and consequences of this epidemiological contingency.
The main aspects are to guarantee protection to the frontiers to stop the introduction of the virus, by a strong control in the airports, ports and the navy, according to the International Sanitary Regulations, to make sure measures of protection to the workers and the community involved in this task.
“It is also included the surveillance on the travelers coming from alleged infected areas, carry out educative actions for the detection of focuses in case there is infected people, and health actions to stimulate norms of protection of the health staff and the population.”
Preparation of the collaborators and doctors that are in CubaThe vice minister of Public Health informed the creation of a training center in IPK with professors with experience, for the fulfillment of the formation processes, which includes activities for the protection of the staff, bio-security, treatment and control of the disease.
“Cuban brigades that went to the countries with the transmission of Ebola (Sierra Leona, Liberia, and Guinea Conakry) had a very hard training where there were also experts from the WHO/OPS.
Controls in the frontiers
“There are controls in the frontiers that follow the International Sanitary Regulations with trained staff in those places with entrance to our country.
Is the national system prepared to stop the transmission in case a sick person arrives to Cuba?
Cuba has a well organized health system and universal cover. If we follow the measures we have in the national plan, we can stop the transmission in case there is a sick person.
The most important thing is the immediate detection of an alleged case, either in the period of incubation or the symptomatic one, so we can isolate the case with all the guarantees of the bio-security measures to prevent the contamination to other people.
We have those conditions in the borders, because that is the only way to be infected. The current regulations with the Immigration and Customs staff and specialists of International Sanitary Control help the high level to immediately stop and detect the virus.
