Written By: Shraddha Rupavate | Published : October 31, 2014 12:02 PM IST
A lot has been discussed about India's preparedness for a possible Ebola emergency. While screening equipment has been set up at international airports and measures have been taken to tackle an emergency, India's huge population and poor health facilities point out that the nation might not be totally prepared for fighting Ebola. (Read: Ebola in India: Dense population and poor sanitation biggest challenges to tackle Ebola, says Ebola co-discoverer)
Delhi government Thursday reviewed the plan and preparedness for combating Ebola and indicated the need to further strengthen the measures. In a high-level meeting, chief secretary D M Spolia said Delhi being a high transit point, a high level of preparedness should be maintained and all agencies should act in unison and close coordination to combat the disease. In the meeting, principal secretary of health SCL Das informed Spolia about preparations and Dr Pawan Maurity of World Health Organisation (WHO) made a presentation on EVD. Here are some points highlighted in the meeting. (Read: Has the Ebola virus really come to India?)
Here are five reasons why Ebola in India is a very scary scenario:
High rate of spread
The virus seems to spread very quickly from one human to another and it can spread through body fluids like blood, saliva, stool, urine, sweat, etc. This makes it extremely dangerous in a densely populated country like ours where it s easy to catch the virus while travelling, in offices or in any other public area. The disease can also spread through soiled clothing, bed linen or used needles.
High fatality rate
According to the WHO, EVD (Ebola Virus Disease) outbreaks have a fatality rate of 90%. Currently, there is no licensed treatment or vaccine for the disease, either for humans or animals. The only way to treat patients is to place them in ICUs and that too is very dangerous for healthcare workers or anyone coming in contact with the victims.
No natural immunity
Unlike the African countries where ebola outbreaks have occurred before, the disease if it arrives is completely new in India which means that we have no natural immunity against the virus. Our internal body system has never experienced anything like the ebola virus and won t know how to fight it. Read more about 5 reasons the ebola virus should never come to India
With inputs from PTI
Photo source: Getty images
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