Vietnam has not recorded any Ebola infections to date, deputy head of the Health Ministry’s Preventive Medicine Department Dang Quang Tan has announced. 

At Lao Bao international border gate

During a meeting of the Vietnam Public Health Emergency Operation Centre in Hanoi on June 4, Tan said there are no direct flights between Vietnam and DR Congo. Only about 30 passengers from DR Congo checked in Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat airports in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. 

According to him, DR Congo recorded the first Ebola case in 1976. The outbreak erupted in three Western African countries from 2014-2016 and reoccurred in early April 2018 in DR Congo. 

As of May 29 this year, 58 people in DR Congo had been infected with Ebola during the latest epidemic, killing 27 of them. 

Speaking at the event, Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said the risk of Ebola infection in Vietnam is low because infections mostly occur in sparely-populated and remote areas. However, agencies should stay alert to the epidemic. 

He said the Health Ministry is working with international organisations to keep track of the epidemics as well as strengthening supervision in communities, border gates and hospitals. 

Long asked health sector to enhance training of health officials on disease discovery, prevention and treatment. 

Localities were required to oversee other epidemics such as influenza A/H1N1, A/H7N9, dengue fever and MER-CoV virus.-VNA