For anyone who has been following the news, Ebola is sweeping the headlines. If you are someone who is considering one of our Quests in Africa, then you may be wondering if you should be concerned about the Ebola outbreak that is going on in western Africa.
The virus is named after the Ebola river, located in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It was in this area where one of the first outbreaks of Ebola occurred in 1976.
Symptoms of the Ebola virus usually take between 2-21 days to appear. It is important to note that those who are infected with the virus only become contagious once they start presenting the symptoms of Ebola. Ebola is contracted by coming into contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person.
Some of the early symptoms of Ebola include;
- Early onset fever
- Weakness
- Muscle pain
- Headaches
- Sore throat
For more information about Ebola and its symptoms, click here.
The safety of our volunteers is one of our biggest concerns. United Planet offers Quests in South Africa, Tanzania, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Togo, and Uganda. There have been no cases found in the project areas of our program countries. We use various sources to daily monitor the spread of Ebola in West Africa.
Any volunteer who has enrolled in a Quest is provided with an emergency medical insurance policy. During our pre-departure training, volunteers are advised on health an safety precautions to take while volunteering abroad. We encourage volunteers to get additional insurance coverage, such as trip cancellation insurance, in case you wish to change your plans.
All of our Quest programs will continue as normal. If there is a confirmed case of Ebola near a project site, then we will re-assess the situation by carefully considering the level of risk. We do not recommend that our volunteers travel to areas that have confirmed cases of Ebola.
Our thoughts are with all those who have been affected by the Ebola outbreak.
Learn more by visiting our Health and Safety page on our website.
ABOUT UNITED PLANET
United Planet is a non-profit organization with a mission to create a global community, one relationship at a time. Established in 2001, United Planet offers volunteer abroad, virtual internships, internships abroad, gap year volunteering, and global virtual exchange in more than 40 countries.
