Ebola Down to Earth

08.Sep.2014

The ministry of defense has developed procedures to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus among Uruguayan army operatives in Congo. These include the avoidance of "intimate contact" with locals and an intensification of personal hygene.

The 1300 Uruguayan army operatives who are part of UN peace-keeping missions in Congo have begun taking measures in order to avoid contracting the Ebola virus and spreading it to Uruguay upon their return.

These measures include consuming only the foods that have been provided by the UN, avoiding "intimate contact" with locals and intensifying personal hygene, as stated by the subsecretary of the ministry of defense, Jorge Menéndez in a press conference.

These measures also advise the limiting of contact with domestic animals and to use extreme caution when handling food, he stated.

The Uruguayan government has also developed a plan in which all personnel will be submitted to medical examination, personal interviews and a 21 day quarantine to avoid the possible spread of the virus.

These procedures will be applied to the troops that will be returning in February and March 2015, and they will follow the guidelines established by the World Health Organization (WHO), he established.

Menéndez also stated that the strain of Ebola affecting the populations of Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone are similar to another strain that has been detected in the Democratic Republic of Congo in recent years.

He also revealed that this disease was first detected in that country (formerly known as Zaire, 1976) and that the most recent cases were registered on the 26 of August when a hunter and his family consumed the meat of an animal infected with the virus.

This, however, occured in a location far from the Uruguayan troops, he pointed out.

The Uruguayan soldiers have been deployed to the cities of Pinga, Kitchanga and Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Their mission is to protect civilianz and to help improve their living conditions.

In surrounding locations there are local armed groups whose military actions are being resisted by a brigade composed of solders from South Africa, Malawi and Tanzania, he stated.

Cities like Pinga are located in a regions known as "islands of stability". These zones are protected from these armed groups and operatives like the Uruguayan soldiers help the local population in their development, he concluded.