A Vietnamese guest worker from Liberia – the worst affected by virus Ebola was willing to be quarantined at the Tropical Diseases Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City on August 20, with symptoms of fever and sore throat found before he arrived in Vietnam.

About 20 days ago, the man along with a group of 20 Vietnamese got to know that the deadly virus is raging through the West African country, hence they quitted the job and stayed in a rented house to wait for coming back home.

On August 17, the workers left the country and then transited in Ghana, the Netherlands and Thailand. Around 4:00 pm on August 19, they reached Vietnam via the Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

No cases were detected to catch fever by a body temperature measurement machine installed at the airport. However, the security forces discovered that the group travelled from the Ebola-hit region, so they asked them to fill in the health declaration forms.

The 29-year-old man said he had caught fever and sore throat on August 15, and then took antifebrile before boarding the plane in Bangkok, Thailand. Given the fact, the Ho Chi Minh City Pasteur Institute asked him to go to the isolation area in the airport. After several hours of isolation and three times of examination, he showed no sign of fever or other typical symptoms that could be tied to the virus.

However, about 5:30 pm on August 20, the man went to the Tropical Diseases Hospital appealing for isolation in fear of any possible exposure to the virus.

Deputy Director of the hospital Le Manh Hung said since hospitalised, the patient is in stable condition.

So far there has been three cases entering Vietnam from Ebola-hit areas quarantined, including two Nigerians who have already been discharged from hospital but remain tracked in the community.

Early Ebola symptoms include sudden onset of fever, weakness, muscle pain, headaches and a sore throat. They later progress to vomiting, diarrhoea, impaired kidney and liver function – and sometimes internal and external bleeding.

It doesn’t spread through airborne or waterborne methods. It is caught through contact with bodily fluids such as sweat, blood, saliva and other secretions of infected people.

The disease has killed 1,350 people in the current outbreak, spreading from southern Guinea to Liberia, Sierra Leone and then Nigeria, according to the World Health Organisation.

No infection of the virus has been reported in Vietnam so far.

VNA/VNN