WHO team to inspect Ebola prevention in Bahrain

Manama: A World Health Organisation (WHO) team will embark on a visit to Bahrain Sunday to assess its readiness to deal with the Ebola disease, a Bahraini health official said Saturday.

During the three-day visit, the team will evaluate Bahrain's contingency plan to prevent Ebola disease from reaching the country and deal with any detected case, Xinhua quoted Mariam Al Jalahma, the Bahraini Health Ministry's Under-Secretary for Primary Care and Public Health, as saying.

The WHO team will inspect key sites, including Bahrain International Airport, Salmaniya Medical Complex, health centers and laboratories, and will prepare a detailed report with recommendations to be submitted to the ministry.

Bahrain is free of Ebola which has infected over 10,000 people globally, nearly half of them died, according to WHO estimates.

The epidemic in West Africa is the largest ever outbreak of the disease with a rapidly rising death toll in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. There have also been cases in Spain and the US.

Bahrain has temporarily enforced visa restriction on all passengers to and from the countries hit by the Ebola outbreak.