A day after the World Health Organization declared the Ebola outbreak an international emergency, Nigeria put out a call for medical volunteers to help stop the spread of the deadly virus, Agence France-Presse writes.
In Lagos, Nigeria, the largest city in Africa’s most populous country, officials said they needed volunteers because of a shortage of medical personnel, the report says. In the city, which is home to an estimated 20 million people, officials have confirmed nine cases of Ebola, including two deaths, Agence France writes.
Although WHO did not call for global travel restrictions, the news agency writes that some countries on Saturday began imposing bans themselves. The move comes as nations and countries across the globe are scrambling to block the spread of the deadly virus, which has claimed nearly 1,000 lives so far.
Nigeria, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia have been hardest hit by the outbreak, which WHO has called the worst in four decades, according to Agence France.
“Zambia announced that it was denying entry to citizens from countries hit by the virus, while Chad suspended all flights from Nigeria,” the report says.
In India, airports went on alert, and Saturday the government opened an emergency helpline. “India, the world’s second most populous country, has nearly 45,000 nationals living in the four Ebola-affected west African nations, and health officials said there was a possibility of some returning to their home country if the outbreak worsens,” the news agency writes.
But India’s Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said in a statement that his country has “put in operation the most advanced surveillance and tracking systems” for the haemorrhagic virus, the news agency writes.
“There is no need to panic,” Vardhan said, calling the risk of Ebola cases in India “low,” Agence France writes.
Read more at the Raw Story.