Cape Town – Botswana is reportedly on high alert following reports that the Democratic Republic of Congo has registered two Ebola cases.
GabzFM News tweeted on Tuesday that the country had closed its borders to travellers from the DRC to prevent the spread of the disease.DRC on Monday confirmed its two first cases of Ebola this year, but claimed they were unrelated to the epidemic raging in four countries of West Africa.
The confirmation marked the seventh outbreak of Ebola in DRC, where the virus was first identified in 1976, near the a river after which it is named.
According to a statement published in allAfrica.com, Botswana on Monday said it was implementing public health interventions to prevent the disease into the country.
"One of the interventions undertaken includes entry restrictions on visitors who have been to countries affected by the disease in the last three months," read part of the statement.
The Botswana government, however maintained there were no Ebola cases reported in the country so far.
Bagaetsho, there is NO reported case of #Ebola in Botswana.
— Botswana Government (@BWGovernment) August 25, 2014
The southern African country advised its public to avoid or postpone travel to Ebola affected countries, adding that the ministry of health would continue to monitor the situation at all levels, a StarAfrica report said.