Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Aug. 27
By Demir Azizov - Trend:
Uzbekistan's Health Ministry issued a formal decision today on African athletes' participation in the 2014 Senior World Wrestling Championship, to be held in Tashkent, Sept. 8-14.
Under the decision, the athletes of five countries of West Africa, which are currently affected by the Ebola outbreak, will not be able to arrive in Tashkent, the Health Ministry told Trend Aug. 27.
A representative of the ministry said an official letter on the ministry's decision was sent to the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA).
The letter states that due to the Ebola epidemic in several countries in the north-western Africa, the Emergency Committee of the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the situation as a threat to the public health.
"Guided by the requirements of the International Health Regulations (2005), as well as given the development of a real epidemiological situation as of Aug. 26, 2014, the Health Ministry recommends refraining from inviting athletes from Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Congo to Tashkent for the world wrestling championship," according to the letter.
The letter also states that athletes coming from other African countries will undergo a medical control at the border crossing and a medical supervision during the entire period of stay in Uzbekistan.
Seven athletes from Nigeria and two from Sierra Leone planned to take part in the 2014 Senior World Wrestling Championship. These two countries are among the West African countries affected by the Ebola outbreak.
Uzbekistan's Health Ministry earlier said the country is taking all necessary measures to prevent Ebola's infiltration into the country.
Health surveillance at airports and train stations, and the inspection of persons coming to Uzbekistan from Africa have been enhanced.
Ebola haemorrhagic fever has already killed about 1,000 people in Guinea, Nigeria, Liberia and Sierra Leone. It is a deadly disease that can be contracted through unprotected direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an infected person, as well as through a contact with objects that were touched by an infected person.