Cameroon limits movements on the border with Equatorial Guinea due to cases of “hemorrhagic fever”

10 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Government of Cameroon has announced this Friday a limitation of movements on the border with Equatorial Guinea after the death of several people due to an undetermined disease in the Equatoguinean province of Kié Ntem (northeast).

The Cameroonian Minister of Health, Malachie Manaouda, has pointed out in a statement to “multiple unexplained deaths” in some villages of this province that he attributes to “a hemorrhagic fever”, without the authorities of Equatorial Guinea having ruled on the matter.

“Given the high risk of importing this information and to detect and respond to any case in its early phase, the local administrative authorities have adopted measures, including the restriction of movements on the border between Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea,” he specified.

Likewise, it has said that “multi-sectoral investigations” have been launched in risk areas “in collaboration with teams from Equatorial Guinea”, as well as “strengthening of epidemiological supervision” and the “intensification of awareness campaigns”. In addition, experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have been deployed in the area.

Manaouda has demanded that health workers “immediately report and isolate all suspected cases, avoiding transferring them, in strict compliance with infection prevention and control measures,” according to the statement published by the Cameroonian Ministry of Health on its account on the social network Facebook.

On the other hand, it has asked the population to “strictly respect” the measures put in place by the local authorities. “It is not a mystical phenomenon or a case of witchcraft,” he stressed, while recommending regular hand washing, especially “after handling an animal or animal product”, “caring for a person with symptoms of haemorraphic fever” , “avoid contact with bodily fluids from sick people”, “avoid contact with sick or dead animals” and “wash food and eat it well cooked and hot”.

“At this time, there is no reason to be concerned thanks to the monitoring and response mechanism, which is in place effectively and has been strengthened,” Manaouda stressed, who has also provided a toll-free number to receive more information on the situation. .

According to the information collected by the Equatorial Guinean news portal AhoraEG, the deaths have been registered in the districts of Nsok-Nsomo and Ebibeyin. A hospital isolation unit at this location has three patients in isolation.