Press Release

DH adds Liberia to Ebola-affected areas

23 November 2015

The Department of Health (DH) today (November 23) added Liberia to the list of affected areas of Ebola virus disease with immediate effect to enhance local surveillance and control measures, and again urged the public to remain vigilant and avoid unnecessary travel to affected areas.

According to the health authority of Liberia, there have been a total of three additional confirmed cases reported recently.

"In view of the latest developments on Ebola globally, the public should avoid unnecessary travel to Guinea and Liberia. Liberia is now included as an affected area under the epidemiological reporting criteria of Ebola while other criteria remain unchanged," a spokesman for the DH said.

Locally, the Government's relevant preventive and control measures on Ebola will be revised accordingly to include Liberia as an affected area, including:

• Surveillance: Patients with Ebola symptoms and travel history to affected areas or contact with Ebola patients during the incubation period should be immediately notified to the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the DH for prompt investigation, control and transfer to the Hospital Authority Infectious Disease Centre in Princess Margaret Hospital for isolation, diagnosis, testing and treatment;
• Port health measures: While routine temperature screening is under way, arriving passengers at the airport who travelled to affected areas in the past 21 days or are holding travel documents issued by affected countries are required to complete a health surveillance questionnaire on travel history, health status and exposure history; and
• Health education: Immigration officers at boundary control points will identify arriving passengers holding travel documents issued by affected countries and deliver Ebola information sheets to remind them to seek medical advice immediately if sick.

Other measures including infection control, risk communication and contingency planning as well as publicity and public education on Ebola are ongoing.

"We will issue letters to doctors and hospitals on the update," the spokesman added.

The DH will continue to closely monitor the latest developments of the overseas Ebola situation and communicate with the WHO and relevant health authorities to exchange information and update preventive and control measures.

The pages below will be updated accordingly:

• The CHP's Ebola page ( www.chp.gov.hk/en/view_content/34199.html );
• The CHP's list of Ebola-affected areas and statistics ( www.chp.gov.hk/files/pdf/evd_affected_area.pdf );
• The DH's Travel Health Service ( www.travelhealth.gov.hk/eindex.html ); and
• The Outbound Travel Alert page of the Security Bureau ( www.sb.gov.hk/eng/ota ).