The United States government on Friday issued a travel advisory for its citizens to take extra care when visiting Tanzania amid concerns over Ebola, reported Reuters.
In an updated travel advisory, the State Department urged U.S. travellers to “exercise increased caution”, citing reports of “a probable Ebola-related death in Dar es Salaam.”
The Tanzania government has denied the reports, saying no cases of Ebola have been confirmed. The government is currently under mounting pressure to provide clarification with transparency to combating the deadly and fast-spreading hemorrhagic fever.
Earlier this month, the head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention visited Tanzania at the direction of U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar, who criticized the country for not sharing any Ebola related information.
A few days ago, the World Health Organization warned it had received credible report that Tanzania might have a case or several cases of Ebola, but that the country was not confirming it. The statement listed the steps the Geneva-based agency has taken to seek information from Tanzanian authorities, who did not respond to the initial request for information for four days.
Notably, authorities in east and central Africa have been on high alert for possible spread of Ebola from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is currently a severe Ebola outbreak since last one year. DRC shares a border with Tanazia that is separated by a lake.
The DRC Health Ministry has reported a total of 3,186 cases of hemorrhagic fever, some 3,072 were confirmed to be Ebola cases. Some 69 people are being treated for the disease, while 989 have recovered from the virus.
The world’s worst Ebola outbreak began in West Africa in 2014 that killed over 11,300 people and infecting more than 28,600 as it swept through Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
