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Sister Annie Tenga being assisted by Sister Beatrice Warure (right) to wear protective gear for Ebola at Wilkins Ebola Quarantine Unit in Harare yesterday, while Dr Hilda Bara (far left) looks on. — (Picture by Tawanda Mudimu)

Paidamoyo Chipunza Health Reporter
Harare City Council is prepared to deal with the deadly Ebola virus should any case be confirmed, City Health director Dr Prosper Chonzi has said. During a media tour of the Ebola quarantine centre at Wilkins Infectious Disease Hospital yesterday, Dr Chonzi said drugs to manage victims, equipment and protective clothing for use during management as well as disinfectants were in stock.

He said about 200 nurses, 16 doctors and support staff from all city health departments had undergone training for Ebola detection and management.
“As City Health, we are ready and we are more than prepared to deal with any case should the outbreak hit the city, but of course that will depend on the numbers,” said Dr Chonzi.

He said in the event that the outbreak got worse in the city, all patients currently receiving treatment for other infectious diseases at the institution would be transferred to Beatrice Road Infectious Diseases Hospitals.

Dr Chonzi said the current quarantine centre could accommodate seven patients, but the whole institution had a capacity for up to 40 patients at any given time.
“Should the outbreak get worse, we can as well erect tents outside the institution, but the whole hospital accommodates up to 40 patients,” said Dr Chonzi.

He said at any given time, a team comprising a doctor, nurses, an environmental health technician and other support staff would be on standby to handle cases.
He said 12 such teams have been identified and they would be working for six-hour shifts every day.

“These teams rehearse everyday even if we do not have a patient just to make sure they stay alert for any case,” he said.
He said health workers in the uniformed forces also underwent Ebola training in the event that their services were needed.

Earlier, Wilkins Infectious Disease Hospital medical superintendent, Dr Hilda Bara, took journalists through the process of safety measures involved when a patient is brought to the institution.

A patient suspected of having Ebola will first be attended to in a separate makeshift ward erected outside the main hospital’s ward specifically for Ebola management.
Once the health worker is convinced that they are dealing with a case of Ebola, the patient is then transferred into the ward where basic health care is rendered.

Twelve-step instructions on safety precautions to protect health workers from contracting the virus from suspected patients are well labelled in each operating room.
Ebola is highly infectious and only transmitted through fluids.

Initial symptoms include fever, colds, weakness before complicating to bleeding.
So far, more than 2 600 people have died of the disease in West Africa, particularly Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia and Nigeria.

Cases have also been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is the only country in Southern Africa affected by the virus.
In Zimbabwe, a total of 98 people have so far been screened and are under surveillance for the Ebola virus.