HEALTH Minister David Parirenyatwa has urged health workers to partner the government in spreading information about the deadly Ebola virus but warned them not to scare the people.
Parirenyatwa told a gathering of pharmacists in Victoria Falls on Saturday that people had been misinformed on the symptoms of the epidemic sweeping across West African countries where 3 300 people have been confirmed dead so far since its outbreak in March this year.
"All you have to do is help spread the correct information to the citizenry that coughing and sneezing which people always associate with symptoms are not signs of the disease.
Parirenyatwa, who is also chairman of Sadc Health Ministers, allayed fears of any outbreak in Zimbabwe saying the country was Ebola-free although it will remain on high alert.
This was after the Bulawayo City Council had reported that it was following 30 Ebola suspects who had visited affected countries in West Africa.
Symptoms of the highly contagious virus include high fever, severe headache, vomiting and diarrhea and its incubation period is 21 days.
The disease has been detected in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Senegal, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea Bissau and Nigeria and experts at the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention have been quoted projecting that there could be up to 1,4 million cases of Ebola by January if the epidemic does not slow down.