The South Sudan Red Cross in Maridi State on Monday launched an Ebola awareness campaign aimed at sensitizing the communities on prevention measures against the deadly Ebola virus.
According to World Health Organisation, as of 12 September 2018, a total 92 deaths have been reported in seven health zones in Congo’s North Kivu Province and Mandima Health Zone in Ituri Province.
Following a new outbreak announced at the beginning of August, the South Sudan national health ministry and its partners launched wider Ebola sensitization campaigns in the former Western Equatoria State which share a common border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Pastor Anthony Juma, the South Sudan Red Cross Focal person in Maridi said the campaign is to educate the citizens on how Ebola virus can be prevent from entering the state.
“The importance of this is we want our people to know what not to touch so that we prevent this disease from entering our country. Because our work as volunteers is to help the government since we are able to reach the communities,” he said.
Juma revealed that there are about 192 Red Cross volunteers who are spread across the counties to disseminate the information to as many people as possible.
For his part, Maridi state minister of physical infrastructure Alison Barnaba appealed to the citizens and health officials to join hands in fighting the epidemic, stressing that prevention is better than cure.
Ebola virus disease or Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is a fatal virus transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission through direct contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with surfaces and materials contaminated with these fluids.