How to Protect Yourself in the Event of an Ebola Outbreak

Here is a leading expert’s advice on how to protect yourself in the event of an Ebola outbreak:

Do not travel to endemic areas.
Avoid crowds: To the extent possible, stay at home. Do not go to cinemas or shows. Do not attend community meetings.
Avoid healthcare facilities: emergencies excepted, avoid all hospitals, medical clinics, and doctors offices. Avoid medical laboratories, even for routine laboratory testing, unless your doctor tells you that your test must not be postponed.
Avoid the services personal caretakers: avoid engaging any babysitters, nannies, home health aids, or servants. Take care of your own children and other loved ones.
Don’t walk around barefoot.
Decontaminate shoes and other surfaces with chlorine-based bleach: ask anyone who comes to visit you to leave his or her shoes outside or, at minimum, to dip them in a plastic tray with bleach before entering your house.
Prepare your own food: prepare your own food, using vegetables, fruits, and canned food or other factory-packaged products. Don’t go to any open market to buy meat, particularly in poor countries, where meat is sold there under unhygienic conditions.
Make sure your airline follows WHO recommendations: if you must travel by plane, check with your airline to see if is implementing WHO recommendation to deny boarding to individuals with fever or with gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea and vomiting. If the airline representative is not sure, cancel your trip or change the airline.
Avoid funerals and cadaver cleansing rituals.

Excerpted from a YouTube video of Dr. Tomislav Prvulovic, a leading expert (retired) on Ebola and other tropical diseases.