Two Nigerian passengers on a Qatar Airways flight to Vietnam were taken directly to the Tropical Diseases Hospital in Ho Chi Minh right after the flight landed in the city as the two were reportedly showing flu-like symptoms upon arrival. Airport officials said that all the passengers who arrive at the airport have their temperatures taken at an International Quarantine Check counter, and these two passengers raised particular concern since they were traveling from Nigeria, which is one of the Ebola-stricken West African countries.
The Preventive Health Department has already coordinated with the United States Disease Control Center and the World Health Organization offices in Vietnam to send samples of the patients' blood for further testing. The country's health ministry has also appealed to the passengers who were seated near the two Nigerians during the flight to visit nearby hospitals to receive preventive measures.
This incident has sparked public concern because, although there are no confirmed cases unable to virus in the country, there was recent news of three students who were coming from Nigeria to study in Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. They were asked to stay indoors and participate in a 21 days fever watch, after which they remained healthy. The three students are still, however, undergoing daily medical checkups as a precautionary measure. They have also been instructed to seek immediate medical attention as soon as they experience symptoms such as headaches, fever, vomiting and diarrhea, or hemorrhage.
Vietnam's health ministry, via the chief of the Preventive Medicine Department, said that they are already laying down plans to purchase 10,000 protective gears for their health officers that have been stationed in places that put them a higher risk of exposure to Ebola virus infection. The virus is known to spread via direct contact with an affected person's bodily fluids like urine or blood. After having been exposed to the Ebola virus, it could take up to 21 days before symptoms become evident.
