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MERS containment more of a priority than Ebola
Agus Purwadianto
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Agus Purwadianto. Depkes.or.id
With around 170,000 Indonesians set to fly to Saudi Arabia for the annual haj pilgrimage, health officials are gearing up to ensure no one returns home with a highly infectious and fatal virus. The Jakarta Post's Hasyim Widhiarto recently talked with Agus Purwadianto, the Health Ministry's acting director general for disease control and environmental health, on the government's preventive measures, particularly those against Ebola. Here are some excerpts from the interview:
Question: What has the government done to prevent transmission of the Ebola virus?
Answer: The Ebola virus transmits through bodily fluids, like blood. However, since there is no indication that the virus can be transmitted aerially, what we are mainly doing is tightening surveillance against incoming and outgoing passengers in our international air- and seaports. Regarding the Ebola outbreak, the World Health Organization [WHO], under the current provision for Public Health Emergency of International Concern [PHEIC], has required unaffected countries to intensify surveillance in their points of international entry and exit. We have informed all of our Port Health Offices [KKP] across the nation to take the necessary measures to abide by this requirement.
We are also recommending that people pay extra attention to their health and hygene standards, as we have also done in response to the recent Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus [MERS-CoV] outbreak. We have also managed to initiate two joint meetings with the Office of the Coordinating People's Welfare Minister regarding the Ebola outbreak in order to forge cooperation with other institutions.
The bottom line is that we will follow our best practice to anticipate this kind of situation. Various government institutions will also work together under the National Commission on Zoonosis [Komnas Zoonosis] to anticipate the Ebola outbreak in the hope of achieving similar success to when we survived the avian influenza outbreak several years ago.
How dangerous is Ebola compared with other viruses?
We have studied the nature of the Ebola virus and learned that it has similar characteristics to MERS-CoV, although their transmission methods are different. Both viruses, for example, can easily be killed with soap. Therefore, we are able to protect ourselves from these viruses by implementing general health precautions in our daily activities.
The Ebola-affected western African countries have also restricted their citizens from traveling abroad in order to prevent the virus spreading further. In comparison with the recent MERS-CoV outbreak in Saudi Arabia, we are maintaining a different level of alertness, different detection methods and different surveillance coordination when handling the Ebola outbreak.
Are you saying that the government is putting a higher priority on containing MERS-CoV than Ebola?
Yes. For now, we still see MERS-CoV as a bigger threat to Indonesia, since it can spread through airborne transmission, and many of our citizens will soon perform the haj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia [where MERS-CoV cases have been found].
Do we have trained healthcare workers and the necessary facilities to detect, evacuate and treat suspected Ebola patients?
Yes, we do. For example, we have dozens of laboratories that are able to detect the existence of the Ebola virus in blood specimens within 24 hours. We also have a network of hospitals that are capable of handling Ebola patients. In addition, we arrange regular simulation exercises for our KKP officers on how to handle patients with highly infectious diseases such as MERS-CoV and Ebola.
What would be the biggest challenge for the authorities in containing an Ebola outbreak?
The biggest problem arises when a person carrying the virus shows no symptoms when entering the country. Therefore, we strongly encourage those who suffer from fever for an extended period of time after traveling overseas to immediately take themselves to a hospital and inform the doctors of their travel and contact history in detail. This information will be very important to help doctors decide on the follow-up procedure or treatment for the patient.
