Pinoys in Africa free from Ebola

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MANILA — The Department of Health announced yesterday that a total of 5,000 overseas Filipino workers in West African countries remain free from Ebola.

Despite reports of the spread of alarming Ebola cases in the said region, DOH spokesman Lyndon Lee Suy ensured families of the OFWs in the country that Filipinos in Africa are still Ebola-free.

Suy also added that 15 OFWs including three who suffered from fever and have been cleared by the DOH, have already returned to the country.

A report from the World Health Organization indicated that the outbreak started in  Guinea in December 2013 and spread to Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria.

A total of 1,711 Ebola cases with 1,070 confirmed cases, 436 considered “probable” and 205 “suspect” cases, were reported as of August 4.

Meanhwhile, a data from the Department of Foreign Affairs showed that 880 Filipinos are in Guinea, 1,979 in Sierra Leone and 632 in Liberia, including the 148 Filipinos in the United Nations Peacekeeping Force.

The DOH is now conducting measures to prevent the Ebola virus from entering the country.