Abou Faour Says Lebanon Free of Ebola, to Send Aid to Expats in Africa
Minister of Public Health Wael Abou Faour confirmed Wednesday that “Lebanon is free of any Ebola case till now,” denying media reports that a Lebanese young man has been killed by the disease.
“The media reports on the death of a Lebanese young man because of this virus are not true,” Abou Faour said.
Abou Faour explained that “the ministry of public health had been notified of a fatality in the Republic of the Congo, and received medical reports from the hospital in which the death occurred.”
According to the medical reports, “the death resulted from an acute respiratory failure, knowing that the deceased was suffering from asthma bouts,” the minister added.
“It should be noted that the Republic of the Congo, has not been labeled as one of the countries stricken with the Ebola virus, and it is different from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which recorded some cases of infection with this virus,” state-run National News Agency, which carried Abou Faour's remarks, said.
"The burial procedures of the deceased young man, which have raised the concern of some citizens, were not more than a precautionary move by his family and their keenness on public safety,” explained Abou Faour.
He called on all media outlets to be “careful and cautious when publishing such news and to make sure they are correct.”
The minister also hoped for “respecting the families privacy,” reassuring that “the ministry is fully pursuing the procedures in regard to confronting infectious diseases, topped by Ebola.”
“It has asked its observers at the airport and the Lebanese embassies to investigate any deaths that happen in the infected countries and to verify the cause of death to ensure the safety and health of the Lebanese,” he added.
According to the recommendations of Speaker Nabih Berri and his follow-up on the issues and affairs of the Lebanese communities, Abou Faour decided to send urgent medical and health aid to the expat communities in the stricken countries, NNA said.
“For that reason he contacted Prime Minister Tammam Salam asking him to complete the necessary procedures for this aid, to which the premier was fully responsive,” the agency added.
The minister of public health also decided to take action through sterilizing the bags of passengers arriving from stricken countries through the airports of Casablanca and Brussels.
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