MOSCOW, July 29 (RIA Novosti) - Russians do not need to fear the Ebola outbreak now spreading in West African countries, infectious disease experts to RIA Novosti Tuesday.
“The human-to-human transmission of Ebola virus only happens by direct contact with the blood and bodily fluids of the infected person – that’s the profuse bleeding which starts shortly before the ill person dies. If you are just passing by the infected person to say hello, nothing is going to happen to you,” said the chief infection disease specialist of the Russian Federal Medical and Biological Agency Vladimir Nikiforov.
According to Nikiforov, Russians have very low chances of being in direct contact with an infected person while on a business or leisure trip.
The deputy director of the Russian Health Ministry’s Institute, Dr. Viktor Maleev, has agreed with his colleague saying that “The places of risk usually have warning signs asking not to visit the hospitals and avoid contact with the sick people. When you see an infected person you’d better put a mask on. The risk of infection is high among those who come in direct contact with those infected,” said Maleev.
Maleev has also noted that the disease is spreading rapidly and no vaccine currently exists.
“According to some findings, up to 90 percent of patients [infected with Ebola] die, there’s almost no chance to save them,” he warned.
The symptoms of Ebola virus disease (EVD) include sudden headache, fever, intensive weakness and intoxication, followed by haermorrhagic rash and bleeding.
According to the World Health Organization, Ebola first appeared in 1976 in two simultaneous outbreaks in Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo.
The current outbreak, already dubbed the longest and worst in African history, began in Sierra-Leone, Liberia and Guinea on February, 2014. As WHO officials reported last week, the virus already caused 1093 cases of infection and took 660 lives, so far no Russian citizens among its victims.
