Ebola checks of visiting ships

All ships coming into South African ports from West Africa are being quarantined as fear mounts of the importation of the deadly Ebola virus.

There were reports yesterday that a container ship coming into the northern KwaZulu-Natal port of Richards Bay had been quarantined because of a suspected case of Ebola on board. This was denied by port and health officials.

The current outbreak in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea has killed 1013 people, making it the worst outbreak since Ebola was discovered four decades ago.

The Hammonia Pacificum was to have docked in Richards Bay on Saturday night but moored outside the port and a quarantine flag was hoisted.

Health officials said it was in line with new protocols.

"All ships from Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria are required to be quarantined while checks are done. All ships have to declare that there are no illnesses on board and satisfy certain port health requirements," the deputy director of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Lucille Blumberg, said.

She said that in most instances the checks were made before the ships docked.

The declaration that there is no sickness on a ship is usually submitted three days prior to its arrival, but it appears that at-risk ships are now being checked by port health officials while moored close offshore.

On the speculation that there was Ebola infection aboard the Hammonia Pacificum, national Health Department spokesman Joe Maila said: "It is regrettable that people continue to make unfounded allegations about cases of Ebola. There is no case of Ebola, or reported case of suspected Ebola, at Richards Bay.

"We appeal to people not to make such allegations, which could cause panic."

At least two people, including a crewman of a ship that docked in Durban 10 days ago, have been tested for Ebola in South Africa in the past few weeks. All tests have been negative.