Ministry of Health has set up four rapid response teams across the country to swiftly react to an Ebola outbreak amid the increasingly worrying spread of the Ebola disease in the world.

The Ministry of Health has set up four rapid response teams across the country to swiftly react to an Ebola outbreak amid the increasingly worrying spread of the Ebola disease in the world.

The four Ebola teams are responsible for the North, Central, South and Central Highlands regions.

Response teams within provinces and districts will also be established to cope with an outbreak of the deadly disease if any. Each province must have at least one team led by a leader of the provincial health department, the ministry stressed at a video conference on Ebola disease prevention yesterday.

According to Tran Dac Phu, director of the ministry’s Preventive Medicine Department, the epidemic is turning more complicated in the world. The number of infected cases and deaths has continued to rise. As of October 17, some 4,604 fatalities out of 9,284 Ebola-infected cases had been recorded in eight countries.

The number of new cases and deaths has doubled in the last three weeks in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The disease has spread to countries beyond West Africa, including two cases in the U.S. and one case in Spain.

All three cases were healthcare workers who contracted the disease while taking care of patients in hospital. Until now, the total number of healthcare workers who were infected has increased to 431 cases with 244 fatalities.

“Vietnam has not detected any Ebola cases. However, the risk of the Ebola virus spreading to Vietnam via international passengers from Ebola-hit countries is high,” said Phu.

Regarding laboratory work, the ministry is supported by the World Health Organization (WHO) with biological products, and is preparing for the standardization of its testing and laboratories.

“Vietnam is well equipped to test Ebola. Four testing facilities that can conduct tests for Ebola include Tropical Diseases Hospitals in Hanoi and HCMC, the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, and the Pasteur Institute,” Phu said.

The health ministry will check and equip other health centers so that they can do Ebola tests.

While Ebola is getting worse in West Africa, Vietnam is strengthening supervision at border gates by checking temperatures and quarantine forms to prevent Ebola-infected passengers from entering the country. The ministry also has plans to isolate suspected cases found in the community or at airports, and is organizing training courses.