Once the virus of the deadly disease Ebola passed the borders of Guinea and killed people in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, now it has moved to Europe. According to data of the National Institute of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases in Sofia, until August 9 out of atotal 1,800registered cases worldwide of which more than 1,000 deaths, there is already one person infected with thevirus in Europe. 14 people in Serbia and one in Turkey are also quarantined while awaiting the final test results because of being to West Africa.

At this time there is no evidence of penetration of the dangerous virusin Bulgaria, despite fears of contamination because of the Nigerian airplane that undergoes maintenance in Bulgarian territory:

"There is no such danger, because the only source of infection is the infected individual who developed the disease", explains the national consultant in virology, Prof.Pavel Teoharov. "It gets transmitted via a very close contact with the sick person. The plane itself will be properly treated to remove any risk."

What are the risks for Bulgaria and is there a real danger of the spread of the virus in the country?

"At the airport we have a thermal camera. The greatest danger, if any at all, comes from the countries with direct flights, if we talk about transferring of the virus via air by infected patients. However, regarding the refugees who cross illegally into Bulgarian territory fromWest Africa, their way to Bulgaria is longer than the incubation period. They move on foot or by local transport in Africa itself. You are aware of what a long road they have topass through Turkey in order to reach Bulgaria. Therefore, it isan extremely unlikely mode of transmission of the infection. Hundred percent guarantees are difficult to give, but certainly there are no obvious risks. People in Bulgaria cannot be infected, because the route of the infection does not involve mass distribution of this infection outside the affected region. In Africa itself the disease spreads because of the poor health system. Habits of the local population are also conducive to the spread of the disease purely through direct contact. So without such direct contact there cannot be mass distribution outside the African continent. Anyone traveling to affected countries should be careful not to communicate with obviously infected individuals."

The treatment of patients is extremely difficult because there is a real risk of contamination of medics themselves. So far there is no vaccine against the virus, but in epidemic areas the experimental drug ZMappwhich the World Health Organization approved recently is used, said Prof. Teoharov:

"It's a drug for treatment. It is at such a stage that it is very difficult to talk about its effectiveness. We know that the death rate from the disease is not 100%, so it is difficult to define the two control groups of people who applied and did not apply the drug. Further in-depth studies are yet to come so we can certainly say that the drug is effective. And with regard to the vaccine - it protects against disease while here we refer to the treatment of infected individuals."

English: Rossitsa Petcova