To help prevent the possible entry of the Ebola virus, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 7 has raised alert against possible smuggled animals coming from Africa.
DENR 7 Regional Executive Director Isabelo Montejo ordered all Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officers (PENRO) and Community Environment and Natural Resources Officers (CENRO) in the region to strictly monitor the entry of wildlife from Africa into the country.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the latest Ebola outbreak is the largest and longest recorded for the disease with a death rate of 50 percent and has so far killed close to a thousand people.
The disease which has no cure yet had emerged in Guinea last March and has spread to Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria.
Since the Ebola disease was first identified in 1976, there have been more than 20 outbreaks in central and eastern Africa. But this is the first time it has affected West Africa.
The virus causes symptoms like fever, vomiting, muscle pain and bleeding.
The disease can be transmitted to humans by direct contact with infected live or dead animals, specifically through their bodily fluids like blood, sweat, urine, saliva.
In Africa, the infection has been documented through handling of infected chimpanzees, gorillas, fruit bats, monkeys, forest antelopes and porcupines found ill or dead in the rainforests.
Since 2006, the DENR has stopped issuing permits for wild animals imported from Africa. Any entry of illegal wildlife from the continent is outright illegal.
The DENR 7 urged the public to ensure that wild animals they buy have wildlife farm permits issued by DENR. They also urged the public not to keep wild animals as pets as they may have potential risks to human health.
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