Ebola: What travelers need to know now
All content is checked by medical journalists.MunichWith 759 cases, West Africa reports the largest Ebola outbreak in the world to date. Although the disease is extremely contagious and often fatal, there have been no travel warnings for Guinea and its neighboring countries.
On the one hand, this is due to the fact that the disease has so far only appeared in individual rural regions. On the other hand, there is only a risk of infection with sick people, i.e. people who are already showing symptoms of illness such as fever. And even then, the transmission usually only takes place through direct contact with the blood or other body fluids of the sick or deceased, such as saliva, urine or sperm. The pathogens actually come from animal populations, especially fruit bats, monkeys or antelopes, but they can transmit the disease to humans. So far, people who have come into contact with wild animals, as well as their close relatives and caregivers, have been infected.
So even if you travel to affected areas, it is very unlikely that you will contract Ebola. In contact with healthy-looking people, with objects such as money or over the water in the swimming pool, an infection is hardly possible because the pathogen is very sensitive and dies quickly. However, if you have had contact with infected living or dead people or animals, infection cannot be ruled out.
Precautions while traveling
A vaccination against Ebola does not yet exist. The Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases recommends the following precautionary measures when traveling to affected areas:
- Avoid direct contact with the blood or body fluids of infected persons or those who have died of Ebola, as well as with possibly contaminated objects.
- Avoid close contact with wild animals and the consumption of game.
- Avoid unprotected sex.
Precautions after the trip
The incubation period for Ebola can be two days to three weeks. That is, that much time can pass between contact with the pathogen and the onset of the disease. If symptoms of illness develop during this period after your return from affected areas, the following precautionary measures should be taken:
- If you have a fever, unexplained fatigue, diarrhea or other serious symptoms, seldom consult a doctor immediately. They can test you for Ebola or other tropical diseases like malaria that need immediate treatment. Doctors with additional training in travel medicine and tropical institutes specialize in travel sickness.
- Be sure to inform your attending physician about your trip and thus help him to quickly find the correct diagnosis and initiate the necessary measures.
- Even if there is a suspicion that you have had contact with infected animals or people who live or have died from them during your trip to an Ebola area, you should be examined by a tropical medicine afterwards. This is true even if you have no symptoms.
- Inform the doctor's practice or institute in advance of a possible infection so that they can take appropriate safety measures. (cf)
Source: Robert Koch Institute
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