Updated 3:00 p.m. Moscow Time
MOSCOW, October 10 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian Embassy in Guinea has no plans to evacuate its staff over the Ebola virus outbreak, but has significantly cut the number of Russian visas, an embassy official told RIA Novosti Friday.
The official said embassy employees “take precautions,” but “there is no panic.”
“The consular department has cut the number of Russian entry visas being issued. We did not stop issuing them, but we issue less, only if there is an emergency,” he said.
The Ebola epidemic currently taking place in West Africa broke out in southern Guinea in February, and later spread across Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Senegal.
According to the World Health Organization, nearly 1,300 people have contracted Ebola in Guinea, 768 of them died. More than 3,800 people overall have lost their lives to Ebola.
The Ebola virus is transmitted through direct contact with the bodily fluids of those infected. Though there is no officially approved medication for the disease, several countries, including Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Japan are working on developing Ebola vaccines.
Earlier on Thursday, the Russian Health Ministry told RIA Novosti that all the necessary precautions are being taken in the country in order to reduce the likelihood of an Ebola outbreak. According to the head of Russia's public health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova, a serious outbreak of the disease is still unlikely in Russia, although sporadic infections among citizens who have traveled abroad are possible.
