Five people under Ebola surveillance in Thailand

BANGKOK, January 6 (TNA) - The Ministry of Public Health says that only five people remain under a close surveillance of the deadly Ebola virus in Thailand so far. In an attempt to ease public worries over the fatal Ebola disease in Thailand, Deputy Permanent Secretary for Public Health Dr. Vachira Pengchan told journalists of the update on Monday. Dr. Vachira noted that two European engineers who had travelled from Liberia and arrived in Thailand on December 24 were earlier suspected of carrying the disease as they had high fever two days after their arrivals in the Kingdom, but they were later found to actually suffer from severe malaria. Dr. Vachira reported that the two men have been recovering and only five persons, thus, remain under close surveillance in the country. According to the senior official, Ebola remains spreading in three countries, including Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Official statistics issued by the UN World Health Organisation indicated that about 20,000 patients worldwide had suffered from Ebola by the end of 2014, about 8,000 of whom died of the disease. It is believed that more newly-recruited volunteers who were recently sent to areas the Ebola virus remains widespread may suffer from the fatal disease. (TNA)