Chad Bryan, Staff Reporter

Local funeral directors are to burn the bodies of those who have been killed by the deadly Ebola virus in the event that it reaches Jamaica. This was the revelation made by the directors yesterday following a press conference at the Ministry of Health office in downtown, Kingston, to hand over guidelines for the operation of funeral establishments and mortuaries.

"While burial is not being ruled out, cremation is optimum," said Scott Roman of Roman's Funeral Home in Kingston. According to the National Geographic, funeral practices can be a method of how Ebola is transmitted. Ebola continues to live in a dead person for some period of time after their death.

Sealed casket

In some cases, the funeral practices also involve a final touch or kiss which then contributes to the spread of the disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also recommended that remains be promptly cremated or buried in a sealed casket.

"If what is being followed, there will be no graveside for these Ebola patients. It will be a straight cremation within two hours after death. The family will have no final decision on what happens there, but the body will be removed within two to three hours after death," said president of the Funeral Directors' Association of Jamaica, Melvin Honeyghan, who pointed out that his funeral parlour has been selected as a crematorium for Ebola victims.

During the handing-over ceremony at the ministry, Health Minister Dr Fenton Ferguson stated that the guidelines were a part of the holistic systems that would be put in place to respond to any threat of Ebola.