By
Rebecca Gibson |
If a highly contagious virus, such as Ebola, is present on a cruise ship, it could have devastating effects. As the Ebola pandemic continues, systems like Martek’s Ebolascreen will become essential tools for every passenger shipping operator
As the Ebola virus continues to ravage countries in Africa, fears it could spread quickly throughout the world via the shipping industry have started to mount. Not only has the European Centre for Disease Prevention & Control stated that the consequences of an Ebola outbreak onboard ship at sea ‘could be dramatic’, a recent incident onboard a Carnival Cruise Lines ship prompted the introduction of tighter Ebola screening protocols.
Following the Carnival incident, the International Maritime Organization published an infographic containing Ebola advice, while Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) distributed protocols and passenger screening guidance to reduce the risk of Ebola on a cruise ship.
CLIA’s protocols mandate that all passengers, visitors and crew must undergo mandatory screening for general health, contact and travel history upon embarkation, and if deemed necessary, will also be asked to undergo further medical screening prior to boarding.
In addition, any passengers, crew or day guests who have come from, visited, or travelled through Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea – countries that have been given Level 3 Travel Health Notices by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – within 21 days of a cruise departure date will be screened and denied boarding. Boarding will also be denied for any guest who has had physical contact with, or helped to care for, a suspected Ebola patient, within a minimum of 21 days before embarkation.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization’s Interim Guidance for Ebola Event Management at Points of Entry report highlights that all states with the Ebola virus transmission must screen all persons leaving the state who are displaying unexplained febrile illnesses consistent with potential Ebola infection. In addition, all points of entry, including passenger ports, must ensure that they have public health emergency plans and standard operational procedures in place.
Evidently, as the Ebola virus continues to spread, it will become imperative for passenger shipping operators to invest in technology that will enable them to mitigate the risk, or quickly contain, an outbreak onboard their ships.
To help operators quickly identify Ebola patients and avoid the costs incurred by diverting cruise calls and compensating passengers, transporting patients or blood test samples to hospitals, and isolating and disinfecting large areas of ships, Martek Marine has launched a screening system for the Ebola virus.
Designed by the safety and environmental emissions monitoring systems manufacturer, Ebolascreen is the world’s first Ebola saliva swab test and is suitable for use onboard ships or before departure. Using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology, the test can identify the DNA of the Ebola virus and detect whether an individual is carrying the disease in less than two hours. This eliminates the need for taking blood samples, which require the assistance of medical personnel.
In addition, the portable Ebolascreen PCR instrument can be operated easily without the need for medical training. To test a patient, personnel simply take a throat swab and prepare the sample with test reagents, before loading it into the Ebolascreen PCR instrument. Results are generated within 90 minutes, while the instrument can develop and read 16 tests at the same time.
“Every person with the virus we detect through screening is one life saved – potentially many lives saved,” said Tonio Berg – EU Health commissioner, speaking about the importance of screening for the virus. “Every person we can treat and cure because we could detect this person through entry screening justifies considering entry screening. I therefore see added value in entry screening.”
While the system is currently being supplied to counter the threat of Ebola, Ebolascreen can also pick up SARS, Legionella, HIV/Aids, Malaria, Cholera, Rabies, Smallpox and Meningitis.