"People should not be scared because South Africa is prepared for an Ebola or any other Viral Haemorrhagic fever case," Felicity Burt told Grocott's Mail while waiting to deliver a lecture at the 5th Annual PD Rose Biotechnology Lecture, entitled Ebola: Detection and Discovery.
"People should not be scared because South Africa is prepared for an Ebola or any other Viral Haemorrhagic fever case," Felicity Burt told Grocott's Mail while waiting to deliver a lecture at the 5th Annual PD Rose Biotechnology Lecture, entitled Ebola: Detection and Discovery.
The lecture, hosted by Rhodes University's School of Biotechnology, looked at Ebola and other haemorrhagic fevers that are present in South Africa.
These fevers are a group of viruses from different families that have in common the ability to disturb blood clotting mechanisms, are highly transmissible and can lead to death. Besides Ebola, other life-threatening diseases in this category are Marburg virus, Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus, Rift valley fever virus and yellow fever.
The primary source of the virus is bats but how and in what manner or form they pass it on to wild animals or humans is not yet clear, she said. She emphasised the fact that someone is infectious only when showing signs and symptoms of the disease, which is not transferred by breathing the same air or being in the same room as someone who has it.
Before a diagnosis can be made, people need to look at an individual's immediate background, where they have been and whom they have come into contact with. Burt said recombinant technology has potential for the diagnosis and surveillance of diseases like Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, also known as Congo fever, which is endemic in South Africa.
She gave background on the Ebola virus, the current outbreak in West Africa, transmission of the virus and the evidence for the involvement of bats as a source of the virus in nature.
"Ebola is not something to be taken lightly but an educated look at it makes it seem manageable," she said.
"People do not need to be scared."
She said South Africa monitors those who come in and out of the country. One reason West African countries are hit so hard is the lack of infrastructure to handle such cases.
Burt said South Africa is prepared for an Ebola scare, and the Eastern Cape and other provinces have designated hospitals to handle the possibility of an imported case.
