The number of confirmed Ebola cases across West Africa is growing at an alarming rate. What measures are being taken to stop the virus from reaching our shores – and is Malta even ready to deal with the deadly disease?

Monitoring committee:

At the start of the African outbreak earlier this year, a special monitoring committee was set up in Malta to coordinate different stakeholders involved in the island’s disease control sector.

Health Parliamentary Secretary Chris Fearne said the health authorities, police, Civil Protection Department, Armed Forces, detention centres and Foreign Ministry were now responsible for the implementation of the Ebola action plan.

The committee also includes members of the Opposition and suggestions submitted by the Nationalist Party will be discussed when the committee meets today.

A set of guidelines has been issued to healthcare professionals as well as to civil protection, police and armed forces personnel. The monitoring committee has also evaluated a series of possible Ebola threat scenarios and is developing plans on what should be done if the disease reaches the island.

Detention centres are among the highest risk locations for a possible Ebola outbreak. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi

Detention centres:

Detention centres are among the highest risk locations for a possible Ebola outbreak. Dr Fearne said irregular migrants arriving on the island could pose a potential Ebola threat, even though the chances of an infected migrant reaching the island via a clandestine journey were rather slim.

To keep tabs, all migrants will continue to be examined on arrival. In a bid to pre-empt the possibility of infected migrants landing on the island, all those originating from affected countries will be kept in quarantine for 21 days, the maximum dormant lifespan of the disease.

While under observation, migrants will be tested on a daily basis for related symptoms.

Training sessions on how to spot and deal with the virus will be given to detention centre workers.

The public:

Dr Fearne said the public would be kept up to date on the current anti-Ebola measures through regular television and radio spots, as well as social media campaigns managed by the government.

Citizens are also being advised to avoid travelling to affected countries.

Information posters with guidelines for African travel have been set up at the airport, while others on avoiding and spotting the disease have been distributed to medical centres and doctors’ clinics.

Possible points of entry:

Although there are no direct flights from Malta to any of the affected African countries, infected travellers could still arrive here, Dr Fearne said.

To deal with this possibility, all passengers, whether by sea or air, will be made to declare whether they have visited Liberia, Guinea or Sierra Leone over the past 21 days. Providing incorrect information will be deemed a criminal offence.

Any passengers arriving from these countries will be kept under observation. All crew whose vessels have travelled to affected countries will also be subject to medical examinations.

Dr Fearne said all inbound flights will air detailed messages about the risks of Ebola, while all Malta International Airport staff have been given guidelines on how to deal with suspected cases.

Clinics have also been set up in the airport as well as the Malta Freeport.

Health clinics:

All of Malta’s eight health centres have been provided with protective clothing and infrared thermometers.

Patients seeking treatment at any health clinic will have to provide information on recent travel history to help identify possible Ebola cases.

Mater Dei Hospital:

Two special isolation rooms have been set up in the Mater Dei Hospital Infectious Diseases Unit.

These, Dr Fearne said, have been equipped with CCTV equipment and autonomous ventilation systems.

A high degree isolation interim facility has also been set up in the hospital. Dr Fearne said this had a ventilation system that filtered the room’s entire air supply 20 times an hour. It also has an uninterrupted air supply, an entry room and walls vinyl-sealed walls, as well as a closed circuit CCTV system.

A group of medical experts from the Infectious Diseases Department, Infection Control, Accident and Emergency, Nursing and the hospital administration now meet on a weekly basis to discuss the hospital’s Ebola readiness and suggest improvements.

Gozo General Hospital:

Two isolation rooms have been set up in the Gozo hospital.

Dr Fearne said structural works were under way to upgrade the facilities, to help handle possible Ebola cases on the sister island.