DOLE cautions OFWs vs ebola virus

MANILA, Philippines - Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in West Africa are advised to avoid shaking hands.

Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said Filipinos must observe other precautionary measures against the ebola virus and refrain from eating meat and traveling to areas where an outbreak has been reported.

“We strongly advise these precautionary and safety measures in the wake of international media reports that the government of Guinea in Western Africa has urged people to remain calm following the outbreak of ebola,” she said.

Baldoz said the ebola virus had already killed 70 people in Guinea since Feb. 9.

No Filipino has been reported affected by the ebola outbreak in western Africa, she added, quoting a report from the Philippine embassy in Nigeria.

However, Baldoz said Filipinos must still take the necessary prevention against the deadly infection.                     

“This doesn’t mean there is no need for proper medically-prescribed precautionary and safety measures to prevent being infected by ebola, considering that there is no vaccine yet against the virus,” she said.

Medical experts said the ebola virus can be transmitted through close contact with bodily fluids, like the sweat, blood and saliva of an infected person or animal.

The only way to contain the outbreak is to stop further infections, they added.

Based on data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), nearly 400 Filipinos are in Guinea as of 2012.