Britain will soon begin Ebola screenings at London's two main airports and the Eurostar rail link with Europe in an attempt to prevent an infected person from bringing the deadly virus into the U.K.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates Ebola has killed more than 3,800 people in Western Africa, and earlier this week a Spanish nurse became the first person known to have caught the virus outside Africa, according to Reuters.
That, combined with London's status as a global transport hub, has raised the level of public concern about the risk of the disease spreading to Britain, leading to calls from some politicians for the government to step up its border defenses.
"Enhanced screening will initially be implemented at London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports and Eurostar terminals," a statement from Prime Minister David Cameron's office said Thursday.
"(It) will involve assessing passengers’ recent travel history, who they have been in contact with and onward travel arrangements as well as a possible medical assessment, conducted by trained medical personnel."
The government said the overall risk to the Britain remained low but that the additional screening had been recommended by the country's chief medical officer as a way to improve detection and isolation of Ebola cases.
Ebola can take as long as three weeks before victims show symptoms, at which point the disease becomes contagious and can be spread through contact with bodily fluids such as blood or saliva.
On Wednesday, the U.S. government ordered five airports to start screening passengers from West Africa for fever. Canada said it was taking similar measures.
Public Health England (PHE), the government body that deals with protection against infectious disease, had earlier warned that screening is not fully effective at catching cases because symptoms take time to develop and are not unique to Ebola.
"Screening at borders sets up a security that is sometimes dangerous because then people think the solution is there," David Heymann, chairman of Public Health Englandc told Sky TV.
Earlier this week, PHE said there were no plans to introduce any form of entry screening, citing advice from the WHO.
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