British government announced stricter control measures to detect outbreaks of Ebola in the two main international airports of London as well as rail network Eurostar which links Britain to Europe.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that due to the Ebola outbreak a total of at least 3,800 people in West Africa have died, and the incident earlier this week of the Spanish nurse became the first outbreak of the virus infected outside Africa.
The incident in Spain in conjunction with the fact that Britain is an important hub for transportation worldwide, intensifying the concerns about the risk of spreading the virus in the country. Several politicians have been calling on the government to implement stricter border measures.
A statement issued by the office of the British Prime Minister David Cameron states that:” Increased control measures will be implemented at Heathrow and Gatwick airports and the rail terminals of Eurostar in London. They will include an assessment of recent travel passengers, persons with whom they come into contact (…) and a possible medical examination by trained staff.”
According to government reports the risk of the virus in the UK remains low, however, the additional measures were proposed by the head of health services in order to improve the identification and isolation of potential cases.
On Wednesday, the White House had announced of stricter control measures in five major international airports in US and Canada also announced similar measures.