“Minimal” chance of Ebola spreading to Georgia, says Health Minister

The Ebola disease has claimed more than 4,555 lives since the current outbreak began in February however there is a minimal chance the deadly disease will spread to Georgia, says the country’s health professionals.

Georgia was classified as a low-risk country in regards to the Ebola epidemic, said Georgia’s Minister of Health David Sergeenko today. He noted that currently, no case of the virus had been detected in Georgia.

"There is no reason to panic. [Georgia’s] healthcare system is ready to ensure surveillance according to international regulations. Fortunately, for today no cases of the Ebola virus have been reported and I once again confirm that the Health Ministry is ready to respond to all the challenges,” he said.

Head of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Amiran Gamkrelidze noted that since mid-August they had been monitoring the people who had travelled to Georgia from the four African countries affected by the virus - Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra-Leone and Guinea.

Gamkrelidze said from these four countries, the Ebola virus was particularly rampant in Liberia, Sierra-Leone and Guinea. Nigeria has officially announced that spread of the virus in their country had stopped.

"Out of these countries, 86 people entered Georgia after mid-August. All of them, except one person, were Nigerian students who study in Georgian Universities. The other person was Georgian citizen who worked in Liberia,” Gamkrelidze noted.

He said these people were given a flier in Georgian in English which listed the symptoms that characterized Ebola and offered phone numbers to call in case of emergency or if they felt unwell.

"The maximum incubation period for this disease was 21 days and throughout this time we conducted surveillance on these people. This means that our epidemiologist calls them and asks if any symptoms have appeared. After 21 days they are dismissed from the supervision. The majority of visitors have already been dismissed and currently only 13 people are under surveillance,” he said.

Since the current outbreak began in February, the Ebola virus has claimed the lives of about 4,555 people. More than 9,000 people were confirmed or suspected to have contracted the deadly disease.