Vigorous Domestic Ebola Policy Needed in Japan as Well

New reports have revealed that nurses overseeing Ebola patients in both the U.S. and Spain have become infected. This is a sign that the risk of contagion is becoming a reality even outside afflicted West African countries.

There is little risk to Japan, which has few travelers to West African countries in comparison to the U.S. and Europe. However, Japan also has a limited number of doctors with experience in treating the disease. It is vital that we provide health care workers with the knowledge and training they need to combat a possible outbreak.

In afflicted countries like Liberia and Guinea, Ebola hemorrhagic fever is spreading with no signs of slowing down, and the death toll has passed 4,000. This is primarily due to inadequate policy and a shortage of supplies and medical personnel.

The U.N. is once again urging signatory nations to lend their support, and has issued a warning stating that at this rate the contagion will spread beyond West Africa, and the world “will have to live with the Ebola virus forever.”

Through the World Health Organization (WHO), Japan has been dispatching doctors to work on the ground, in addition to providing monetary support. As things stand, it’s still not enough.

Ebola is spread via the bodily fluids of afflicted individuals. Compared to airborne diseases like influenza, it is rather difficult to transmit the virus via sneeze or cough. However, for health care providers in contact with patients, the risk of transmission is high.

In the U.S., a man who had flown in from Liberia began showing symptoms in Dallas, Texas, before dying in a hospital. Despite precautionary measures — like wearing suitable protective garments — one of the nurses became infected.

Institutions including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) are eager to prevent any further spread, and are currently investigating as to whether or not there may have been some oversight in protocol. Quarantine efforts at major airports are also in the process of reinforcement.

The Japanese government is also ramping up security, requiring all travelers from afflicted nations to go into airport quarantines — but this doesn’t necessarily mean it will be possible to hold Ebola back at the borders.

We must consider the possibility of discovering an afflicted individual in a hospital inside the country, and ensure we are prepared to conduct rapid virus identification tests so that doctors are able to make accurate judgments. It would also be wise to pre-emptively begin a discussion on conditions for the use of untested treatments.