General Chat

Following on from Dermot's excellent thread about Ebola - do you think that our government is taking sufficient precautions to combat this disease reaching the UK?

The Prime Minister David Cameron has said the government is right to take action "to keep our own people safe" from the Ebola virus.

His comments came after the government decided to screen some people arriving in the UK for the virus. Those arriving from areas hit by Ebola face "enhanced screening" at Heathrow, Gatwick and Eurostar terminals.

Downing Street said passengers would be asked questions and potentially given a medical assessment during the screening process.

There may be no direct flights to the UK from the areas affected by Ebola, however people can fly to the UK via any of the hub airports in Europe and other countries, and apart from Heathrow, Gatwick, and Eurostar terminals, there ar many other points of entry to the UK.

The incubation period for Ebola is up to 32 days. Thus airport checks are a waste of time however much the tabloid press pray scream and shout.

Nigeria, an advanced country with money and know how has managed to get the Ebola problem under control despite being near to the affected countries. As Europe has far more resources than Nigeria there is no reason to suppose that the health authorities in Europe will be unable to manage the situation.

Meanwhile Liberia and Sierra Leone urgently need help. For once UKGov is pitching in with a lot of help.

There was an interesting programme broadcast last December by BBC Radio 4, under the title - 'The Next Global Killer'.

Ten years after the SARS pandemic, science journalist Alok Jha investigated whether we'll ever predict or at least be well prepared for future deadly global epidemic(s), be they bird flu or bat viruses.

The programme is still available on 'Playback'. So, are we nearly ready in the UK for EBOLA's? knock on the door? My confidence needs to be re-bolstered!

no its not enough


suspend all flights from west Africa till its under control :-D :-D

As I understand there are no direct flights from the countries affected to the UK.

Therefore any flight from a European or other hub that has originated in W Africa could potentially be carrying someone with the virus. They would have to screen innumerable passengers. Also, medical workers, helpers and supplies have to get in and out somehow.

there was a statistic on the news tonight that I think it was 36,000 screenings

66 suspected cases

actual cases

zero.........

tough job

Don't panic.

Mr. Mainwaring

I wonder, if the cuts and numerous changes over recent years, to those agencies responsible for enforcing UK border and immigration controls, will mean that there are not enough, suitably trained staff available, to carry out this screening?

OFTG,

It's not the UK Border force staff that are doing the medical checks it's doctors and nurses that are doing them.(as I understood it from the news).

Does anyone else think that our own people who are going out to Sierra Leone should be in Quarantine for 6 weeks when they come back to the UK.???

If the Spanish Hospital had put the nurse in quarantine after she had nursed the 2 priests then there wouldn't have been all the panic in Spain.

All passengers should be screened no matter which airport the passengers fly into like we get loads of flights at Leeds and Bradfors airport from Europe.

According to the BBC this will be what the screening process will involve:-

Screening can involve taking people's temperatures to check whether they have a fever. This is one of the main symptoms of Ebola, but is also a symptom of many other infections.

As people go through screening "they may also be asked" questions to assess their risk including:

What countries have you travelled through and what are your onward travel plans?

Have you been near anyone who is unwell recently?

Have you been near or cared for anyone with confirmed Ebola virus disease?

Do you have a fever or headache?

Have you been vomiting or do you feel generally unwell?

Do you work in healthcare?

The government says "some people" will face assessment by medical staff but "the details of this remain unclear."

Travellers will also be given advice on what to do if they become unwell at a later stage.

Seems to me that all someone needs to do, to avoid being delayed, is to answer "NO" to most of these questions :-S

During the last Foot & Mouth scare, I remember having to walk through a special spread of 'disinfected' straw at Holyhead port, both going out from & returning to Wales.

Extra measures were assessed for those passengers who worked in the farming trade.

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson has warned - that the government is at risk of promising "stuff that doesn't really make any sense" in its plans to prevent Ebola reaching the UK.

The Mayor indicated, that the screening of people arriving from Ebola-affected areas, which is due to start next week, was a "far from perfect solution".

He said "you cannot test everybody" and some infected people would get through, he also said that blood tests could not be done on every person arriving in the UK, and that temperature checks would not catch every case - because the virus had an incubation period of up to three weeks before symptoms start.

The Mayor, during an interview on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, said that he had little doubt, that eventually, there will be a case of Ebola in this country and probably in this city - London.

Most come through European airports so it is one of those things that the wonderful EU should be able to cope with if they had the "you know what's" to deal with.

Stop all but essential flights from the affected areas, Emergency aid workers etc.. only.
No tourists, people visiting relations businessmen or students admitted.

Since the start of history the most effective way to deal with any outbreak is isolation / quarantine. Prevention is better than cure!

Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said yesterday that 'The Ebola outbreak is becoming as serious as the Aids epidemic'.

I'm no expert on either matter but, from the little pieces I have read recently, I would have guessed that Ebola is potentially a lot worse & easier to spread than Aids every was. But, I suppose both can be contracted in the same physical transaction.

The fact that the UK is surrounded by water should be of some assistance in maintaining a level of security.

In the papre today by somebody who came into Heathrow yesterday. He said the checks appeared to be voluntary. He was from working in one of the worst areas and was only given a check when he volunteered. He said people off his flight were just walking through and not challenged. :-(

From near the end of ww1 into 1919 the world was struck by a vicious form of viral pneumonia. The symptoms were not all that different to those of ebola eg severe hemorrhaging. The reaction of the authorities was much the same then as now. It hit the UK very hard as the returning troops brought with them the disease to major cities.

Here is an American account which is food for thought.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK22148/

UKGov has ordered a large number of protective suits for health workers ....
delivery is "urgent".

Passenger screening for Ebola is to be extended to Manchester and Birmingham airports Public Health England says.

Staff at the two airports will begin checking passengers from at-risk countries next week.

Better late than never I suppose.

I lack British sangfroid to apply for an airport job like that.

I feel sorry for the squaddies sent out to help, think I would rather take my chances in some trouble spot than that!