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High fever not necessarily Ebola, says ministry
Health Ministry health research and development agency (Balitbangkes) head Tjandra Yoga Aditama said that as of Saturday, Indonesia had not yet recorded any confirmed Ebola or Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infections
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ealth Ministry health research and development agency (Balitbangkes) head Tjandra Yoga Aditama said that as of Saturday, Indonesia had not yet recorded any confirmed Ebola or Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infections.
'If we find someone newly returned from a Ebola-affected country who is suffering from a high fever, it does not necessarily mean that he or she has a serious illness caused by the Ebola virus,' said Tjandra on Sunday.
He said four symptoms could be seen as a strong indication that someone, especially those recently returned from Ebola-affected countries, had contracted the deadly virus. They comprised high fever with uncertain causes, severe muscle pains, digestive disorders and bleeding.
Many newspapers and other media outlets are reporting that two residents of Madiun and Kediri are suspected of having contracted Ebola. The two patients were reported to have fallen ill after they returned from Liberia, an Ebola-affected country. The two were among 28 Indonesian migrant workers who returned home and arrived in Indonesia on Oct. 26 after completing their work contract in the country.
'None of them fell ill during their flight. And none of them were reported to require medical assistance from a physician,' said Tjandra.
Shortly after they arrived at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, the 28 migrant workers underwent a quarantine procedure and according to the Port Health Office, none of them had an illness.
Several days after the health checkup, two migrant workers from Madiun and Kediri were reported to be suffering from high fever.
'But suffering a high fever does not necessarily mean that someone has a serious illness caused by Ebola. A high fever can be a symptom of malaria or another disease. However, as a precaution, the hospitals where the patients sought treatment decided to treat them in an isolation room to prevent the possible spread of the infectious disease,' said Tjandra.
The patients' blood samples had been taken and sent to the Balitbangkes laboratory at the Health Ministry, Jakarta, on Saturday.
Tjandra said it would take 48 hours at the latest for the laboratory to confirm whether the two patients had tested positive for Ebola after the receipt of the specimens. (ebf)(+++)
