After the first confirmed case of the Ebola virus has entered their borders, authorities in Senegal have been closely monitoring everyone who has possibly come in contact with the student who came into the country with the virus.
According to a timeline that was plotted by the World Health Organization, the 21-year-old student reportedly fled from Guinea on August 15 after losing some family members to the disease. He left shortly after his brother, who apparently contracting the virus in Sierra Leone, died of the disease. Since he left Guinea, other members of his family, including his mother and sister, have also died from the disease, and two of his brothers are receiving Ebola treatment. After traveling by road, the student was able to reach and cross into Senegal on August 20 despite the border being closed off due to the outbreak. He then stayed with some relatives along the outskirts of the capital city, Dakar. August 23, he went to seek medical treatment for fever, vomiting, and diarrhea. Doctors say that this was already the onset of the Ebola virus disease, but the patient concealed the fact that he had been exposed to Ebola virus previously, so he was treated for malaria and was allowed to go back home to his relatives. On August 26, the patient turned up at a Dakar hospital where he was finally diagnosed EVD.
A representative from Senegal's Health Ministry have said that they have already tracked down all the people that the student had come in contact with and they are already being checked for signs of Ebola. Pres. Macky Sall said that they are implementing all the necessary measures to make sure that the spread of the disease is prevented. The government has already launched public awareness campaigns, including public service announcements on television programs that encourage people to practice good hygiene to prevent the spread of the disease.
Since the arrival of the virus in Senegal, the government has considered shutting down their borders and restricting flights into the country. However, a representative from the United States Centers for Disease Control said that, "Countries might try to restrict travel in order to protect themselves, and it will do the opposite. If we cut off these countries we will interfere with our ability to support them and stop the outbreak and that will actually increase the risk to the rest of the world."
