Suvarnabhumi screening arrivals from DR Congo for Ebola

All foreign arrivals who have been to DR Congo in the past 21 days must undergo thermal scanning and provide their travel history and their address and telephone number in Thailand. They will receive a health beware card for self-monitoring that contains contact numbers in case of emergency.

Suvarnabhumi is screening DR Congo arrivals for symptoms of body temperature over 38 degrees Celsius, fever, headache, muscle ache, sore throat, fatigue or a history of potential exposure to infected cases. Travellers who display these symptoms will be tested, monitored, or sent to Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute in Bangkok, according to the Disease Control Department.

Ebola is a severe and often fatal virus transmitted through contact with the blood, secretions, or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with contaminated surfaces and materials such as bedsheets.

There have been no cases of Ebola reported so far in Thailand, said DDC acting director-general Thares Krainairawiwong.

However, the DDC recommends that Thailand residents planning to travel to DR Congo or Uganda avoid the following:

- Touching wild animals.

- Eating wild animals, especially monkeys and bats.

- Touching bodily fluids or personal items of suspected Ebola patients.

- Touching patients without protective gear.

Travellers returning from Uganda or DR Congo should visit a hospital immediately if they develop the following symptoms: High fever, fatigue, headache, muscle ache, sore throat, vomiting or diarrhoea.

They can also contact the DDC hotline at 1422.

On Monday, Uganda found nine more Ebola cases in the capital Kampala, bringing the number of infections in the last two days to 14, Reuters reported.

Uganda has reported 90 confirmed and probable cases since the start of the outbreak on September 20, including at least 44 deaths.

The virus circulating is the Sudan strain, for which there is no vaccine.