False alarm of Ebola in Singapore

An ebola scare in Singapore proved to be a false alarm (thankfully) as a suspected case of a Nigerian woman in her 50s was transferred to Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH)'s Communicable Diseases Centre today from Gleneagles Hospital. The woman in her 50s arrived to Singapore from Nigeria, where there are at least 10 proved cases of ebola, a few days ago and developed high fever.

The alarming news came as a Straits Times tweet at around 3:45 PM saying "Singapore may have its first suspected case of #Ebola". Approximately 1 hour later, the Straits Times sent another tweet saying that the woman does not have Ebola.

There is limited passenger traffic between West Africa and Singapore. Besides, most tropic viruses have signs and symptoms similar to ebola's initial phase (i.e. malaria). Still, ebola's deadly reputation and high kill rate makes every fever or vomiting event a scare in many countries. Recently, a Nigerian man was sent to test after he has developed fever and vomitting in Hong Kong, which proved to be a false alarm.

Ministry of Health also released a statement saying that "The Ministry of Health (MOH) wishes to clarify that there are no suspect cases of Ebola in Singapore at present. MOH will continue to closely monitor the situation, and continually assess and calibrate its measures.".

No Ebola in Singapore (Ebola virus seen here in electron microscope)

The news coincided with a mock case of suspected Ebola drill by The Ministry of Health, Communicable Diseases Centre and Changi Airport Group held as a emergency preparedness exercise.

Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is transmitted through direct contact with blood, body fluids and tissues of infected persons or animals, or by contact with contaminated objects. Although difficult to transfer, once it enters the body, it creates severe signs and symptoms resulting in death in 59% to 90% percent of the patients. Currently, there is no cure for Ebola and the patients are usually put into intensive hospital care with the hope that the body will fight of the disease.

Current West Africa Ebola Outbreak is the worst outbreak in terms of number of deaths, the area effected and the duration.

Ebola risk in Singapore is low says MOH as the deadliest Ebola virus outbreak goes out of control

The largest Ebola virus disease outbreak to date, the ongoing 2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak, which is affecting Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia is out of control. Since March 2014, there have been 1,201 cases of Ebola and 672 died in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. This makes the current kill rate of Ebola 60% and Ebola virus can kill up to 90% of the people it effects.

More worrying aspect of the current Ebola outbreak is its reach. Previous outbreaks were confined to small villages and did not travel long distances. But last week,  a 40-year-old American man of Liberian descent who worked for the West African nation's Finance Ministry died in Nigeria after taking several flights on Asky Airlines.

The idea of the Ebola virus travelling in commercial airliners is a horror scenario. There are 35 countries, including USA, France and Germany which are only one flight away from the epicenter of the outbreak. Although the virus is hard to transmit and makes people to sick to travel around, the average time between contracting the infection and the onset of symptoms is 13 days. Which means a person carrying the virus will not have any sign and symptoms for 2 weeks andcan easily pass through customs without detected.

Ebola can be transmitted from humans to humans but it requires direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person. It is not transmitted through air. Since it makes its victims very sick and kills most of them, a large scale global epidemic is highly unlikely. In fact, simple diseases like diarrhea kills more people in a day than Ebola did since 1976 but its high death rate makes it very scary.

Ebola cases have been suspected in Britain and Hong Kong, but patients have so far tested negative.

2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak is the deadliest since the first outbreak in 1976.

According to Ministry of Health (MOH), Ebola virus disease advised not to be alarmed by reports of Ebola cases overseas:

"The Ministry of Health's (MOH) current assessment is that Ebola poses a low public health risk to Singapore since person-to-person transmission results from direct contact with bodily fluids of those infected, and there is low travel connectivity to West Africa where the current outbreak remains limited to.

MOH is in close contact with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and our counterparts internationally, and will continue to monitor the situation. Our hospitals will be vigilant in testing for Ebola where clinically indicated, such as in patients with the symptoms and a compatible travel history.  All suspected and confirmed cases will be isolated. In addition, the Ministry will conduct contact tracing and all close contacts will be quarantined, if a case is detected."

Source : Ebola Virus Disease