ST. PETERSBURG, August 20 (RIA Novosti) – Ebola is not a threat to Russia, as the disease is not highly contagious and the current outbreak in West Africa is controlled, virologist at Institute Pasteur in St. Petersburg Aleksander Semyonov told the press Wednesday.
“There is no threat to Russian citizens. This is not a highly contagious disease, like, for instance, influenza,” Semyonov, the head of immunology and virology at the Pasteur St. Petersburg Scientific Research Institute, said.
The use of an experimental vaccine has been quite successful, but it was too early to talk about the existence of a cure, Semyonov noted.
“The Russians have nothing to worry about,” the expert added, explaining that the Ebola outbreak has not reached an uncontrollable stage yet, which suggests there is no need to introduce any special quarantine measures in Russia.
On Tuesday, a student from Nigeria displaying symptoms of Ebola was hospitalized in the Russian city of Ufa. Local health authorities declared they would introduce a quarantine for all travelers from Ebola-affected areas.
According to World Health Organization data, over 2,240 people have been infected by Ebola, while at least 1,229 have died. The epidemic broke out in the Western African nations of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.
