Ebola outbreak a cause for concern

 ALTHOUGH Papua New Guinea has minimal trade and contact with the African continent, last week’s declaration by the World Health Organisation that the Ebola epidemic was now an international health emergency, should give nations like us cause for concern.

Even though the chances that the virus might reach these shores appear to be remote, it would only take a series of scenarios to unfold for the contagion to be able to get this far east.

India has already taken measures to guard against the possibility of a viral outbreak. 

Since February, the Ebola outbreak has claimed 1000 lives in the western African states of Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia and Nigeria.

The question Papua New Guineans must ponder is if a deadly disease such as Ebola were to reach the country how well could our health system cope with it.

It is worth noting that PNG shares many similarities with African nations with regards to having a rural majority that does not get adequate medical care.

Infrastructure and faci­li­ties such as road access, hospitals and clinics are not developed to the extent that controlling an outbreak would be manageable.

The state agencies charged with handling a medical em­ergency would need to be equipped and have the necessary manpower.

PNG has been untouched by many of the major outbreaks in recent years. Perhaps due to the fact that this country is not as widely visited as other countries in the region nor is it on a major flight routes has kept it in isolated from potential threats.

The Asia-Pacific region has been hit by two contagious diseases over the past decade. Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the SARS coronavirus. 

Between November 2002 and July 2003, an outbreak of SARS in southern China caused an eventual 8273 cases and 775 deaths reported in multiple countries, with the majority of cases in Hong Kong, according to the WHO. Within weeks, SARS spread from Hong Kong to infect individuals in 37 countries in early 2003.

Thankfully PNG was not among those nations affected however with the threat so close to its doorstep the possibility was always there. 

The other disease that affected the region was the avian flu, which was spreading through Asia in 2003 and reached Europe in 2005 and the Middle East and Africa the following year.

On January 22, 2012, Chi­na reported its second human death due to bird flu in a month following other fatalities in Vietnam and Cambodia. Companion birds in captivity and parrots are highly unlikely to contract the virus, and there has been no report of a companion bird with avian influenza since 2003.

Ebola is a viral illness of which the initial symptoms can include a sudden fever, intense weakness, muscle pain and a sore throat, according to the WHO. And that is just the beginning: Subsequent stages are vomiting, diarrhoea and, in some cases,  internal and external bleeding. The disease infects humans through close contact with infected animals, including chimpanzees, fruit bats and forest antelope. 

It then spreads between humans by direct contact with infected blood, bodily fluids or organs, or indirectly through contact with contaminated environments. Even funerals of Ebola victims can be a risk, if mourners have direct contact with the body of the deceased.

While the likelihood of the disease getting a foothold here is slim, that does not mean precautionary measures are unnecessary.

With human smuggling and the risk asylum seekers from Asia and Africa take to get to Australia, the possibility exists that a communicable disease of foreign origin could find its way into PNG and would not necessarily manifest itself in the major towns and urban areas.

Imagine the damage a disease like Ebola could cause in a rural community. The number of people affected could climb before help arrived. Judging from the response times and the level of assistance that has been given by the state whenever a natural disaster has hit rural communities it would not be hard to picture a disease like Ebola ravaging communities, a district or even an entire province before help arrived.

The government, the relevant state bodies, including the Health Department, the National Disaster and Emergency Office and even the military must be vigilant.