Ethiopia Launches Ebola Testing Laboratory As Part of Prevention Precautions

Dr. Kesetebirhan Admasu, Ethiopia's Minister of Health, announced that Ethiopia has established a modern laboratory centre with the view to step up the national Ebola prevention efforts. The modern laboratory, Bio-safety Level 3 and 4 began operations on Monday (October 13) for screening and testing purposes. It is staffed by well-trained Ethiopian professionals.

The Minister noted the country had also launched a new screening machine, a Thermo Scan Thermo Meter, with the capacity to test up to a thousand individuals per hour. The new machine and two other thermo-screening machines are presently operating at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport to test passengers.

Dr. Kesetebirhan said the Government had so far spent more than US$3 million for precautionary emergency medical services, and he emphasized that technical committees were being established in regions across the country to prevent the entry of the Ebola virus. Dr Daddi Gimma, Head of National Technical Committee of Ebola disease protection, noted that Ebola testing and control measures were now available 24 hours a day. The Minister added "there are no Ebola suspected cases in Ethiopia."

Source: allAfrica.com