No cases are reported yet
By Arusha Times correspondent
A task force has been formed here to tighten surveillance on the Namanga
border post for any likely Ebola case.
The team, headed by health inspectors, will propose the best measures to
check all in-coming travellers.
Reports from the border town, some 110 kilometres from Arusha, had it that
serious screening was yet to be undertaken for hundreds of travellers
crossing Namanga everyday.
When contacted over the issue, the regional commissioner Magesa Mulongo said checking of in coming travellers for Ebola was the responsibility of the health department under the direction of the regional medical officer. The regional medical officer Dr. Frida Mokiti and her health counterpart Venos Uiso said screening machines for Ebola cases have been sent to Namanga on the Tanzania/Kenya border.
However, they confirmed that the equipment were yet to be put to use and that they were heading to the area to find out why. Recently, the government announced that screening equipment against Ebola have been sent to the Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) for in-coming passengers.
The Mt. Meru regional hospital has also reserved one ward for Ebola suspects. However, so far there is no Ebola case reported in Tanzania and East Africa although the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned the region was one of the high risk areas.
According to her, screens for Ebola suspects have been taken to both public and private hospitals in Karatu, Ngorongoro, Monduli, Longido, Arumeru and Arusha districts.
Recently there were reports that some Arusha hotels reported cancellations of visitors from overseas over a combination of factors including fears of the epidemic.
Willy Chambulo, a tour operator who manages a string of lodges and tented camps in Serengeti and adjacent areas said he had been forced to close at least three lodges and an unspecified number of tented camps he operated there because of the apparent fall of business following many cancellations.
When contacted over the issue, the regional commissioner Magesa Mulongo said checking of in coming travellers for Ebola was the responsibility of the health department under the direction of the regional medical officer. The regional medical officer Dr. Frida Mokiti and her health counterpart Venos Uiso said screening machines for Ebola cases have been sent to Namanga on the Tanzania/Kenya border.
However, they confirmed that the equipment were yet to be put to use and that they were heading to the area to find out why. Recently, the government announced that screening equipment against Ebola have been sent to the Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) for in-coming passengers.
The Mt. Meru regional hospital has also reserved one ward for Ebola suspects. However, so far there is no Ebola case reported in Tanzania and East Africa although the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned the region was one of the high risk areas.
According to her, screens for Ebola suspects have been taken to both public and private hospitals in Karatu, Ngorongoro, Monduli, Longido, Arumeru and Arusha districts.
Recently there were reports that some Arusha hotels reported cancellations of visitors from overseas over a combination of factors including fears of the epidemic.
Willy Chambulo, a tour operator who manages a string of lodges and tented camps in Serengeti and adjacent areas said he had been forced to close at least three lodges and an unspecified number of tented camps he operated there because of the apparent fall of business following many cancellations.
He was also quoted as saying that tourist arrivals into the country had
dropped by 25 per cent this year while the travel inquiries from overseas
fell by up to 50 per cent due to the outbreak of Ebola which continue to
wreack havoc in West Africa.
Fears of Ebola are reported to have led to the drop of bookings at the
tourist hotels based in Arusha for visitors from the traditional source
markets of Europe and North America and lately Asia.
Ebola, a hemorrhagic fever is a disease of humans and other primates caused by a virus which may be acquired upon contact with blood and other bodily fluids of an infected animal.
The disease, first identified in the 1970s, has a high risk of death, killing between 50 and 90 per cent of those infected with the virus. The recent outbreak in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia has claimed nearly 1,400 lives.
Mr. Chambulo could not explain what Tato, a powerful lobby group for the tourism industry based in Arusha, was doing to tackle the crisis but said the falling business in his firms reflected the situation with other tour operators and hoteliers.
Ebola, a hemorrhagic fever is a disease of humans and other primates caused by a virus which may be acquired upon contact with blood and other bodily fluids of an infected animal.
The disease, first identified in the 1970s, has a high risk of death, killing between 50 and 90 per cent of those infected with the virus. The recent outbreak in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia has claimed nearly 1,400 lives.
Mr. Chambulo could not explain what Tato, a powerful lobby group for the tourism industry based in Arusha, was doing to tackle the crisis but said the falling business in his firms reflected the situation with other tour operators and hoteliers.
Recently,the authorities in Arusha reported that they were taking measures
against the possible outbreak of Ebola. These included deploying health
workers at the entry border points and the Kilimanjaro International
Airport (KIA)
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