Police in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi have tracked down and questioned two women who spread a canard on Facebook that a Vietnamese person had contracted the deadly Ebola virus, which has been scotched by local health authorities. The two women have been identified as Vu Huong Thao, 23, and Nghiem Thuy Trang, 30, who both live in the capital city. When being questioned by police, Thao and Trang said they posted the information in order to give a warning to everybody against the Ebola virus. The Vietnamese Facebook community has been worried since two statuses were posted on August 11 on two accounts, M.G. and G.Y., saying that a Vietnamese person had been infected with the deadly Ebola virus and was being treated at Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi. The information in the posts then spread rapidly among the local Facebook users, drawing numerous comments from their readers. Deeming the alarm as false, police launched an investigation and found out Thao and Trang. Thao is the owner of the account M.G. while Trang owns the other. On her page, Thao wrote: “According to the confirmed information from my relative who works at a hospital in Hanoi, a Vietnamese person has contracted Ebola virus disease…” Thao also said the “patient” was being treated at Bach Mai Hospital. Similarly, Trang wrote on her page: “Ebola has penetrated into Vietnam. Everybody should be careful…”
No Ebola infection in Vietnam
Tran Dac Phu, director of the Vietnamese Ministry of Health’s Preventive Health Department, on Aug 13 rejected the false rumor, confirming that there has been no Ebola infection in Vietnam so far. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Ebola virus disease (EVD) is widely spreading in four West African countries, including Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea. It has affected 1,975 people in these countries and killed over 1,069 of them, the WHO said. The virus can be transmitted to humans from wild animals and also spreads through contact with the body fluids of an infected person or someone who has died of the disease, according to the global health organization. The WHO on Aug 12 authorized the use of experimental drugs to fight Ebola after a U.S. company that makes an experimental serum called ZMapp said it had sent all its available supplies to hard-hit west Africa, according to AFP. The same day, Masaya Kato, the WHO’s communicable disease coordinator, said his organization will provide technical assistance for Vietnam to carry out molecular tests for the fatal Ebola virus. Thus far, no cases of Ebola infection have been reported outside the four West African countries, Kato said, adding that Vietnam faces a very low risk of infection. Ebola is a highly fatal virus that can kill 90% of infected people, the Vietnamese Ministry of Health warned, adding that the EVD is often characterized by the sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. (Tuoitrenews.vn Aug 14)