The Romanian authorities are also preparing for possible Ebola cases in the country, given the current outbreak of the disease in West Africa. There is a special workgroup in Romania that monitors the outbreak of the Ebola virus disease. The group is made of representatives of the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, of the National Institute of Public Health and the Matei Bals Institute of Infectious Diseases, reports local Hotnews.ro. Doctors at the Matei Bals Institute have already been trained on isolation procedures that should be applied in the case of a possible Ebola patient.

According to doctor Alexander Rafila, adviser to the Minister of Health and head of laboratory at the Matei Bals Institute, the hospitals designated to handle possible Ebola cases are the “Matei Bals in Bucharest and the infectious disease hospitals in Cluj, Iasi and Timisoara, with the possibility to arrange hospital care structures outside towns, in a short time”.

Nigeria is the area that presents vulnerability for Romania because “most of the Romanian specialists present in the affected region work in Nigeria, which is also the home country of most foreign students from West Africa that study in Romania,” doctor Rafila told local Hotnews.ro.

According to a recent situation report on the Ebola Response Roadmap, conducted by the World Health Organization, the total number of probable, confirmed and suspected cases in the current outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in West Africa was 4,366, with 2,218 deaths, as at September 7, 2014. The affected countries are Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone.

Ebola’s main symptoms are fever, headaches, diarrhea, bleeding and vomiting. The virus is transmitted through direct contact with the blood, biological fluids and tissues of infected persons.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com