The Ivory Coast government has suspended flights by its national airline Air Côte d'Ivoire to and from countries hit by Ebola. PHOTO | AFP
Ivory Coast has announced that it has banned all flights from countries hit by Ebola as part of steps to prevent the deadly virus from reaching the west African nation.
The government said in a statement that it has forbidden all "carriers from transporting passengers" from these countries and has also decided "on the suspension until further notice" flights by its national airline, Air Cote d'Ivoire, to and from these locations.
The statement did not name the countries but nearly 1,000 people have died from Ebola in Liberia, Sierre Leone, Guinea and Nigeria, which are all in West Africa.
On Monday, Nigeria confirmed a new case of Ebola in the financial capital Lagos, bringing the total number of people with the virus to 10.
SPREADS THROUGH BODILY FLUIDS
Health minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said the latest confirmed case was a female nurse who came into contact with a Liberian-American man, who died of Ebola in a Lagos hospital on July 25.
The Ivorian Government said it has decided to increase preventive measures at Abidjan airport where "all passengers on arrival will have to have their temperatures taken with an infrared thermometer."
Ebola causes flu-like symptoms including fever. In the worst cases, it causes unstoppable bleeding.
It spreads among humans via bodily fluids including sweat, so can be spread by simply touching an infected person. With no vaccine, patients believed to have caught the virus have to be isolated to stop further contagion.
No case of Ebola has surfaced in the Ivory Coast which began implementing measures to prevent the spread of the disease in March.
BA SUSPENDS FLIGHTS
British Airways said August 5 that it has suspended flights to Liberia and Sierra Leone following concerns about the spread of Ebola.
Dubai's Emirates Airline said earlier this month it was suspending flights to Guinea.
Pan-African airline Aruj and ASKY suspended all flights to and from the capitals of Liberia and Sierra Leone following the death of a Liberian passenger at the end of July in the Nigerian city of Lagos.
Chad on Saturday suspended all flights from Nigeria. Officials said Sunday that Nigeria had stopped the Gambian national carrier, Gambia Bird Airlines, from flying into the country, alleging "unsatisfactory" measures by the airline to contain the spread of Ebola.
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