UK to introduce Ebola screening as death of Briton reported in Macedonia

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Thu, 2014-10-09 19:30 — mike kraft

THE GUARDIAN Oct. 9, 2014

By Robert Booth

London --Travellers arriving at Heathrow and Gatwick airports from west Africa are to be screened for symptoms of Ebola, Downing Street announced on Thursday night after a day of confusion over the government’s response to the virus that has claimed more than 3,800 lives.

People travelling from the worst-affected countries – Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea – will face a questionnaire about their recent travel history, who they have been in contact with and their onward travel arrangements.

People travelling from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea will be screened for Ebola symptoms.Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

Medical staff will be deployed to check some travellers’ body temperature to ascertain if they have fever, one of the early symptoms of the illness. Rail passengers arriving in Kent and London on the Eurostar from Paris and Brussels will also be screened....

The UK border measures will be introduced “in the coming days”, Downing Street said, and the announcement came despite the British defence secretary, Michael Fallon, saying earlier on Thursday that airport screening was not in line with World Health Organisation advice that screening for fevers or temperature is better conducted in the exit country.

The Foreign Office was last night investigating reports that a Briton had died of suspected Ebola in Macedonia. Tests were being carried out but the man’s colleague said he had not been in any country known to have Ebola outbreaks.

See full article
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/09/uk-screening-airports-ebola-symptoms

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