Ebola is a viral illness the initial symptoms can include a sudden fever, intense weakness, muscle pain and a sore throat, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). And that is just the start, advancing stages are vomiting, diarrhoea and in some cases both internal and external bleeding.
It is able to spread between people by direct contact with infected blood, bodily fluids or organs, or indirectly through contact with contaminated places or things. The disease infects humans through close contact with infected animals, including chimpanzees, fruit bats and forest antelope.
As concerns mount over the possibility on an Ebola outbreak in Europe, Britain is undertaking an eight-hour drill today to test its readiness capabilities, in preperation for when the virus hits the UK.
Actors simulated symptoms, medical staff wore full protective suits and the health secretary chaired a mock emergency meeting. In one test scenario, paramedics had a call about someone who had collapsed at Gateshead shopping centre.
The patient was initially taken to Newcastle then transferred to a specialist isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in London when Ebola was suspected. In the other simulated case, a patient visited a walk-in centre in Hillingdon, London, with flu-like symptoms having recently returned from West Africa. After blood tests the patient was taken to the Royal Free.
I think that that is the right action to be taken place as if this deadly virus hits the US then many thousands of people will be infected and possibly die. I think that extra measures should be taken in the UK as well to ensure we aren't hit as badly by this virus.
Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday defended his decision to do the same at Gatwick airport, Heathrow airport and Eurostar terminals, saying the measures were approved upon “medical advice”.
A Department of Health spokeswoman said: “The public can be assured that we have been planning our response to an Ebola case in the UK for many months now since the outbreak started in West Africa. It is vital that we test these plans in as realistic a situation as possible - with real people.
“It is important to remember that the overall risk to the public in the UK continues to be very low, and the UK has some of the best public health protection systems in the world with well-developed and well-tested systems for managing infectious disease.”
The exercise is happening on the same day that five US airports begin screening passengers travelling from the three worst-hit West African nations of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
New York’s John F Kennedy airport will start the extra measures today, escorting anyone who began their journey or made a stop in one of those three countries, to a quarantined area of the airport of evaluation.
What is your opinion on screening people at airports for Ebola?
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