(VOVworld)  - The Ministry of Health has required all passengers from Africa to fill health declaration forms before entering Vietnam.

Vietnam applies health declaration form ahead of schedule against the spread of Ebola epidemic

The information was released at Monday meeting of the National Steering Committee for Ebola Virus Prevention in Hanoi. The Department of Preventive Medicine of the Health Ministry said the Ebola virus is classified as a highly infectious disease with high fatality rates. The Ebola virus disease raging through West Africa has killed 1,000 people including 200 medical staff. The Health Ministry said there is a high risk that the epidemic will enter Vietnam through airway. Therefore, the Ministry of Health decided to require passengers declare their health status earlier than scheduled, as Tran Dac Phu, Head of the Department of Preventive Medicine, puts it:“In pursuant to the Prime Minister’s instruction, all border gates have been asked to apply medical declaration form filling for passengers traveling by air, roads, and waterways. But it’s difficult to identify which passengers come from the epidemic-hit region because they don’t fly on the same flights. Health declaration forms will be applied after checking their passports.”

The Ebola virus disease raging through West Africa has killed 1,000 people including 200 medical staff.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has halted tours to Africa while the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs has cancelled guest workers dispatch to the nations that have reported breakouts. The Foreign Ministry has sent diplomatic notes to the Vietnamese Embassies in Nigeria and Morocco, guiding Vietnamese citizens living in West Africa to prevent from being infected and keep updating the epidemic situation in Africa.