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7 OFWs from Sierra Leone test negative from deadly Ebola virus 


The seven overseas Filipino workers from Sierra Leone have tested negative from the deadly Ebola virus, a television report said Monday.

The OFWs, who arrived recently from the West African state, did not exhibit symptoms of those infected by the Ebola virus, a report on GMA News TV's Balitanghali said. 
 
The seven were among the 15 OFWs repatritated early this month from Sierra Leone, one of the four African countries with high number of Ebola cases. 
 
Other countries with Ebola cases are Guinea, Liberia, and Mali. 

According to the latest data from the World Health Organization, the viral disease, which has a case fatality rate of up to 90 percent, has killed more than 700 people since February this year. 
 
On Saturday, the Health Department maintained that the Philippines remains free of the deadly Ebola virus
 
According to the DOH, symptoms of infection with the Ebola virus include:
 
  • fever, headache, intense weakness, joint and muscle pains, and sore throat;
  • vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding; and 
  • sometimes, rash, red eyes, hiccups, and bleeding from body openings.
 
Meanwhile, the virus can be transmitted through close contact with:
 
  • blood secretions;
  • organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals;
  • body fluids and stools of an infected person;  
  • contaminated needles and soiled linen used by infected patients;
  • direct contact with the body a deceased person.
The Health Department is currently on high alert against the possible entry of the deadly virus in the country. — Rouchelle R. Dinglasan/RSJ, GMA News
 
 
 
 
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