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Harare Bureau
HEALTH workers have gone into panic mode over the deadly Ebola virus and are spreading rumours of the disease outbreak at some health institutions, a Cabinet Minister has said.
Health and Child Care Minister David Parirenyatwa said tests of suspected Ebola incidents were sent to South Africa and results were negative. That gave the country a clean bill of health from the deadly disease at the moment, he said.

Minister Parirenyatwa said this yesterday in the National Assembly where he delivered a ministerial statement responding to rumours that a patient had died of Ebola at Parirenyatwa Hospital this week.

He said the latest rumour started after a patient presented himself with some symptoms synonymous with those of Ebola.

“The rumours are spread through social media due to panic that happened at Parirenyatwa Hospital, particularly by health workers,” said Minister Parirenyatwa.

He said the patient, who worked in Mozambique and came to Parirenyatwa in an ambulance, had his temperature high, generally very ill, in a confused state and required resuscitation.

“He was put on a drip and, because of the confusion, he pulled down the drip and then there was blood all over. Because the patient looked like he had blood all over, the staff thought he had blood from everywhere. So I would want to dispel that rumour, that we do not have Ebola at the moment and I hope we will continue like that,” he said.

He said the first rumour about an Ebola case emanated from South Medical Hospital in Chitungwiza after a patient presented himself a week ago with some symptoms that appeared to be consistent with those of Ebola.

Minister Parirenyatwa said the patient was admitted and died three days later. Upon enquiry about his background, it emerged that he had visited the Democratic Republic of Congo, one of the countries that have recorded the deadly disease.

A specimen was then collected and sent to South Africa and results came on September 17, 2014 to the effect that he had no Ebola.

“We can conclude conclusively that the case at South Medical is not Ebola but rumours had already spread,” he said.

With respect to the second case at Parirenyatwa, the Minister said there was no need to carry out tests because the patient who subsequently died had not visited any country hit by the  disease nor had he got into contact with a suspect of Ebola as he worked in Mozambique.

Meanwhile, Trauma Centre, an elite private health institution in Harare, yesterday held an Ebola lecture for its employees to calm them after Wednesday’s rumours that a man had died of the disease at Parirenyatwa Hospital.

The hospital’s chief executive officer and chairman, Dr Vivek Solanki, said the lecture was meant to assure his staff that there had not been any detected case of Ebola in the country.

“Yesterday there was panic because of the situation at Parirenyatwa Hospital. Whatsapp messages were flying between medical doctors and nurses and spilled over to members of the public. Everyone was panicking as people had questions without answers,” he said.

Dr Solanki said because of the private sector’s role in health delivery system, it was also important for those working in the private sector to be informed and disseminate the correct information.

“My job is to explain to my staff so that they do not disseminate the wrong information and that they do not go and cause panic to the public out there,” he said.

All staff at Trauma Centre attended the 30 minute lecture where they were briefed on the signs and symptoms of Ebola.

Parirenyatwa Hospital’s chief executive officer Thomas Zigora, said the patient was assessed by two doctors trained on Ebola detection who confirmed that it was not an Ebola case.

“Be assured that the hospital did not at any time detect any Ebola cases. The hospital has erected tents that are being used to screen patients before they are attended to at the accident and emergency department and the outpatients department respectively.

“If any suspect cases are identified they will be transferred to Wilkins Infectious Diseases Hospital,” said Zigora in a statement.

Ebola is highly infectious and only transmitted through fluids. Initial symptoms include fever, colds, weakness before complicating to bleeding.

To date, more than 2,200 people have died of the disease in West Africa.