There is “no reason to panic or cause social alarm” about Ebola in Portugal, Secretary of State Assistant to the Health Minister Fernando Leal da Costa said today (October 10) in Coimbra.
Although the government is “taking precautions” against a possible Ebola infection, Leal da Costa considered it a “remote possibility”.
The secretary of state explained that Portugal is not one of the most susceptible countries to infection as it doesn’t have direct flights to any of the most affected countries, such as Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
Commenting on the case of the Ebola-infected nurse in Madrid – just 421kms from Portugal – he said that it was an “exception”.
Algarve hospital boss Pedro Nunes also told the Resident earlier this week that the region’s hospitals could be ready to act in case of an infection within a “half an hour period”.
However, for now it is the Curry Cabral and Dona Estefânia hospitals in Lisbon and the São João hospital in Porto that are designated to receive patients diagnosed with Ebola.
Recent statistics from the World Health Organisation show that 3,800 people have died from the virus out of a total of 8,000 infected.
Health specialists report that the virus is transmitted through direct contact with bodily-fluids such as blood, saliva and semen.
There is still no vaccine or effective treatment against Ebola, and the death rate is high.
No reason for Ebola panic in Portugal
