EDITORIAL - Warriors vs Ebola

In the United States, “fear-bola” is reported to be spreading after a second nurse in Dallas was confirmed to be suffering from Ebola. Administrators of a Texas hospital have apologized for their mishandling of the Ebola threat, as nurses complained that no protocol was followed to protect health workers from contracting the disease.

The virulence of the disease that has killed about 4,000 people mostly in West Africa has caught health authorities even in the world’s advanced economies unprepared for the arrival of Ebola in their shores. A patient arrived in the US without Ebola being detected at the airport, where security measures are focused on terrorist threats. In Spain, an infected nurse’s beloved pet has been euthanized, but no one knows if the patient or her dog had spread the virus before Ebola was diagnosed.

The problems now confronted by these countries are providing lessons to Philippine authorities in the effort to prevent the entry of the Ebola virus. Teams are being organized, equipped with hazmat or hazardous material suits, to deal with patients. A single-bed containment room has been reserved at the Lung Center of the Philippines.

As recent developments have shown, Ebola symptoms can be manifested too late, when a patient has already mingled with an untold number of people. Apart from health professionals, among the most vulnerable are airport personnel who come in contact with arriving passengers. 

With no vaccine available and treatments still being tested, governments are grappling with ways of preventing the spread of Ebola. Manila has declined requests to send health workers to countries hardest hit by the disease. Filipino health professionals, however, are still vulnerable as they stand by for the possible emergence of the virus in the country. Authorities must work quickly to draw up protocols that will provide sufficient armor for those preparing to do battle against Ebola.