ST JOHN’S, Antigua, Oct 02 2015 – Health authorities have sought to assure citizens that a teacher who recently returned from a visit to Nigeria and fell ill at a public school on Thursday, is not suffering from the deadly Ebola virus that has killed thousands of people in Africa.
Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans. The virus, for which there is no cure, is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission.
A brief statement from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said that following consultations between education and health officials,” it was determined that the teacher’s illness is not one for alarm”.
It said that rumours began circulating that the teacher, who was identified, had been taken to the Mount St. John’s Medical Centre by the Emergency Medical Service (EMS), may have contracted a specific illness.
The authorities said they were planning to “allay the fear of those who may have come in contact” with the teacher “who is resting comfortably at Mount St. John Medical Centre and is in stable condition”.
Media reports here Friday said that the teacher had recently gone to Nigeria to attend the funeral of a relative.
