DOH’s Tayag: Just a matter of time before PHL reports 1st Ebola case

Published October 10, 2014 4:05pm

The country's chief epidemiologist said it was "just a matter of time when the Philippines reports its first Ebola case."

"Outbreak countermeasures that exist today are not enough to contain Ebola," Dr. Eric Tayag, head of the Department of Health's National Epidemiology Center, said on Twitter.

The DOH-NEC held a summit on the Ebola virus on Friday in Quezon City.

Organized by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, the summit aimed to spread awareness and information about EVD. Representatives from the government, the medical community, and the private and civil sector were present.

Tayag said patients who die from Ebola virus fever in the Philippines should be buried or cremated within 12 hours. He said no wakes should be allowed, a Department of Health official said Friday.

"Within 12 hours. No wakes allowed," he said on Twitter when asked how soon should patients who die from Ebola in the Philippines be buried or cremated.

He added that those who return from a country affected by Ebola may have to be monitored for fever for up to 21 days.

Tayag said a sick returning Filipino could seek medical care in any hospital but he or she could also be sent to any DOH-designated hospital.

He said that not all returning travelers from Ebola-affected countries should be tested, saying the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine would only "test only those who are sick."

Meanwhile, Tayag advised those who provide care to Ebola patients to take precautions as well since as they may get infected when secretions touch their eyes.

According to the World Health Organization, the current Ebola virus disease outbreak is the largest since 1976, with the current case and death count larger than those of all past outbreaks combined.

There has yet to be a recorded EVD case in the Philippines, but Dr. Eric Tayag, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Health, said that this is bound to change.

'We cannot close our gates'

Echoing Tayag’s statement, Richard Gordon, Chairman and CEO of the Philippine Red Cross said, “It will reach our shores. We cannot close our gates.”

He said that with the large number of overseas Filipino workers, it is just a matter of time before the virus makes its way to the Philippines.

Executive Order 168, creating an interagency taskforce to handle emerging infectious diseases, was drafted and signed in May this year. The chairperson will be a representative from the Department of Health (DOH).

During the summit, representatives from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), and the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) talked about the roles their organizations had in the country’s Ebola response, as well as how the agencies planned to coordinate with one another.

The POEA currently has a partial deployment ban in place for countries with confirmed Ebola cases.

According to the DFA, there are no direct flights from West African countries to the Philippines, but once a passenger is confirmed to have traveled to Sierra Leone, Liberia, or Guinea, then they will be screened upon arrival in the Philippines.

It was stressed during the summit that one of the most important things is making sure that healthcare workers are aware of proper protocol and procedures. The government is responsible for providing training and equipment to handle any potential EVD cases.

“This is a fight that cannot be won by one government agency alone,” said the POEA representative. —Joel Locsin and Bea Montenegro/NB, GMA News

Tags: ebola