Philippines monitoring Ebola outbreak in Congo

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine goverrnment is monitoring the outbreak of Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo to prevent the spread of the disease in the country, an official said yesterday.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello said the government would not yet ban the deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to Congo.  

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared Ebola a public emergency concern, according to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.

Other government agencies monitoring the Ebola epidemic are the Bureau of Quarantine, Bureau of Immigration and Civil Aeronautics Board.

The WHO previously reported that Congo is grappling with the world’s second largest Ebola epidemic.

A total of 3,099 Ebola cases with 2,074 deaths have been recorded worldwide since an outbreak was declared in August.

Five years ago, the government stopped the deployment of OFWs to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone due to Ebola outbreak.