A first case of the Ebola virus has been identified in Nigeria. It is the fourth African country to be affected by the disease. France, meanwhile, has been preparing for months for the possible arrival of the virus.
In Africa, the Ebola virus epidemic continues. At the end of July, a Liberian man died in Lagos (Nigeria), as did his doctor a few days later. These two deaths make the country the fourth in West Africa to be affected. If France remains confident about the risks of propagation at home, it remains nonetheless vigilant. Preventive measures, checks at airports, recommendations for residents in high-risk areas… Prevention is essential.
Checks in air areas
First risk area: airports. Travelers from affected countries (Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Liberia) are subjected to a questionnaire and a temperature measurement before boarding. If a suspected case is identified, access to the flight will be refused. All the professionals on board the aircraft were informed of the measures to be taken for the isolation of a patient in case the first symptoms appear during the flight (wearing of gloves, mask, private toilet, application of hydro gel alcoholic on the hands, etc).
Recommendations for travelers
These travelers are then asked to monitor their temperature daily and see a doctor if they have any symptoms suggesting the virus. “Anyone presenting, within 21 days of returning from a risk area, a fever greater than or equal to 38.5 ° C must be considered a suspected case and must be reported to the Center 15 (1)” , indicates the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. The incubation period of the disease is 2-8 days. The infection, it results in high fevers, headaches then skin rashes and other disorders such as bleeding.
Concerning the inhabitants of France already there, strict recommendations were communicated to them: avoid consuming bushmeat and wash their hands regularly. Finally, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Laurent Fabius, urges the French to cancel or avoid any trip to the affected countries.
Alert messages to hospitals
In April 2014, the Minister of Health Marisol Touraine launched a warning message to all hospitals explaining the patient isolation procedures and the health measures to be taken in the event of contamination. This device, called March, also aimed to install equipment and reorganize services so as to be operational immediately in the event of hospitalization. The goal is to prevent the spread of this highly contagious virus.
France also has “referral hospitals in each region to which the patient can be referred so that he is best taken care of, both for himself and to avoid contagion”, underlined Marisol Touraine, Minister of Health, last week in The Parisian. The North hospital in Marseille, for example, treated two suspected cases of the virus in two months, which turned out to be negative.
A high security laboratory in Lyon
“A case can only be confirmed by a biological analysis carried out by one of the two reference laboratories, only one of which is currently in use,” reports the Ministry of Health. This is the laboratory of the National Reference Center for Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers (VHF) based in Lyon and attached to the Institut Pasteur. It is this laboratory which carried out the diagnosis of the two suspected cases of Marseille, but also those of the first African cases.
With all these measures, France seems ready to block the Ebola virus which, according to the latest report from the World Health Organization (WHO), has already killed 672 people since February 2014.
(1) SAMU / Center 15 : this is an annex of the Ministry of Health attached to the SAMU. It is responsible for verifying and centralizing information relating to health threats (terrorism or epidemic), and for placing neighboring emergency medical services on alert. It also welcomes the victims and establishes a crisis unit.
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