10202014Mon
Last updateFri, 17 Oct 2014 1pm
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Jalisco prepares for ebola

Procedures and medical personnel are in place at the Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta airports to attend to passengers suspected of carrying the Ebola virus, Jalisco’s Health Secretary said Monday.

Jaime González Álvarez has not confirmed that passengers arriving at the airports will be actively screened for Ebola symptoms but that precautions are being taken.

He told reporters this week that he will ask federal authorities to purchase reagents that have proved successful in detecting the virus. Some of these have been developed in China and, according to sources there, have been sent to Sierra Leone to help that country contain the virus.

Because of its proximity to the United States and close ties to Texas, Jalisco must be prepared for any outbreak of the killer disease, González Álvarez stressed.

“Someone who is in Africa today can quickly get to Jalisco, via North or South America or other routes. Planes arrive in Mexico from all over the world and for this reason we must raise the alert.”

The first laboratory-confirmed case of Ebola diagnosed in the United States was made on September 30. The man had come from West Africa and developed symptoms approximately four days after arriving in Dallas, Texas. He died on October 8.

On October 10, a healthcare worker at Texas Presbyterian Hospital who provided care for this patient tested positive for Ebola.

González Álvarez  said special areas in Guadalajara’s Hospital General de Occidente and Hospital Civil de Guadalajara are being prepared in case anyone in the state is suspected of carrying Ebola.

Airline staff are being instructed to look for any signs of Ebola symptoms among passengers. According to the CDC, they include fever, severe headache, muscle pain, weakness, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal (stomach) pain and unexplained hemorrhage (bleeding or bruising).  Symptoms may appear anywhere from 2 to 21 days after exposure to Ebola, but the average is 8 to 10 days. Ebola is only contagious if the person is experiencing active symptoms.

GR staff