The local health authorities have issued a warning to doctors and border officials to be on the lookout for signs that persons arriving in Malta by sea or air may be carrying the deadly Ebola virus.
A spokeswoman for the Parliamentary Secretariat for Health said the authorities were monitoring the situation closely and taking preventive action. The UK has taken similar measures.
Work is under way at Mater Dei Hospital to upgrade two rooms at the Infectious Disease Control Unit to deal with any suspected Ebola cases. The rooms will be used “to strengthen the contingency plan in case of any suspected cases”.
The action comes as the World Health Organisation yesterday admitted that the Ebola outbreak was moving faster than the efforts to control the disease.
It is the deadliest outbreak since 1973. At least 729 people in four countries – Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria – have died since cases first emerged in February.
The fatality rate has been about 60 per cent. Sierra Leone is sending teams door-to-door in search of Ebola patients and others who have been exposed to the disease.
A health security meeting was held at EU level yesterday to harmonise measures if an imported case is diagnosed in a member state. The WHO says the risk is very low.
In Malta, doctors have been given a fact sheet on procedures and a number to call if they see patients with suspect symptoms.
“While the current assessment is that the Ebola risk to Maltese travellers remains low, travel information advice to people travelling to or from affected areas has been issued, together with a helpline number,” the spokeswoman said. She said border officials at ports and airports had been instructed to notify the health authorities about any sick people entering Malta.
No Ebola cases have been notified in Malta and the health authorities have played down fears the disease may be carried by migrants.
The spokeswoman said that whenever irregular migrants arrive by boat, “it is an established procedure that they are reviewed for any symptoms of infectious diseases and a clinical examination is performed”.
The Ebola virus is transmitted through direct contact with blood and bodily fluids. It can also be contracted through unprotected sexual intercourse and the virus may still be present in semen up to seven weeks after a patient has recovered.
Casual contact in public places with people that do not appear to be sick does not transmit the Ebola virus. Neither do mosquitoes. The virus is easily killed by soap and sunlight.
Symptoms include fever, headache, joint and muscle pains, weakness and vomiting, and the patient could bleed from the eyes, nose, ears, mouth or anus.
The public has been asked to call 2132 4086 should they know of anyone travelling to Malta from the affected countries.