The Cameroonian government announced Friday a restriction of movements on the border with Equatorial Guinea following the death of several people from an undetermined disease in the Equatoguinean province of Kié Ntem (northeast).
The Cameroonian Minister of Health, Malachie Manaouda, has pointed in a communiqué to «multiple unexplained deaths» in some villages of this province which he blames on «a hemorrhagic fever», without the authorities of Equatorial Guinea having pronounced themselves on the matter.
«Given the high risk of importing this information and to detect and respond to any case in its early phase, the local administrative authorities have taken measures, including the restriction of movements at the border between Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea,» it specified.
He also said that «multi-sectoral investigations» have been launched in the risk areas «in collaboration with teams from Equatorial Guinea», as well as a «strengthening of epidemiological surveillance» and the «intensification of awareness campaigns». In addition, experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have been deployed in the area.
Manaouda has called on health workers to «immediately report and isolate all suspected cases, avoiding transferring them, in strict compliance with infection prevention and control measures,» according to the statement published by the Cameroonian Ministry of Health on its Facebook social network account.
Moreover, it has asked the population to «strictly respect» the measures put in place by the local authorities. «It is not a mystical phenomenon or a case of witchcraft,» he stressed, while recommending regular hand washing, especially «after handling an animal or an animal product», «taking care of a person with symptoms of hemorrhagic fever», «avoiding contact with body fluids of sick people», «avoiding contact with sick or dead animals» and «washing food and eating it well cooked and hot».
«At this time, there is no reason to be concerned thanks to the surveillance and response mechanism, which is effectively in place and has been strengthened,» reiterated Manaouda, who also provided a toll-free number to receive further information on the situation.
According to information gathered by the Equatoguinean news portal AhoraEG, the deaths have been recorded in the districts of Nsok-Nsomo and Ebibeyin. The isolation unit of a hospital there has three patients in isolation.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
