Gov't to continue monitoring 2 workers from Ebola-stricken Sierra Leone

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The Department of Health (DOH) said today that it will continue to monitor two of the seven workers who returned from Ebola-hit Sierra Leone.

Health Undersecretary Ted Herbosa said five of the seven workers passed the 30-day observation period without developing any symptoms of Ebola virus.

"The two others are still being monitored because they have yet to (hurdle) the incubation period," Herbosa said.

The seven overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) belonged to the first batch of 15 OFWs who were repatriated from Sierra Leone, one of the West African countries affected by Ebola outbreaks. The seven OFWs arrived home on different flights.

The Philippine government said earlier that there are about 880 Filipinos living in Guinea, 1,979 in Sierra Leone, 632 in Liberia including the 148 Filipinos in UN Peacekeeping Force.

While the Ebola incubation period is from two to 21 days, the DOH decided to subject the OFWs to a 30-day monitoring period as a precautionary measure.

Today, the World Health Organization declared the Ebola virus disease as a "public health emergency of international concern." This came after 932 people in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria were killed by the viral hemorrhagic fever.