Ebola: Panic in Spain and vigilance at U.S. airports

The Spanish health worker who contracted Ebola became the first person to catch the disease outside West Africa

Ebola panic is increasing as the death figures climb to 3,857. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that over 8,000 peole in Libera, Sierra Leone and Guinea have been infected. The White House expressed its plan to send 4,000 U.S troops to Liberia in West Africa to facilitate the transport of health personnel, but some congressmen feel that this falls short of a detailed plan.

In the wake of the death of Texan Thomas Duncan who was infected by the virus, the United States has also beefed up security at airports. The new measures at O’Hare in Chicago, the JFK at Newark in the Yew York area, Washington’s Dulles and Atlanta’s airport will begin over the coming days when Customs and Border Protection (CBP) dispatches staff to these airports. As many as 160 people enter the United States from these airports every day, accounting for 90% of people entering the country from West Africa.

Travelers are also being given factsheets with information about Ebola symptoms and questionnaires to fill out regarding their own health.

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In Spain, a Spanish nursing assistant caring for a Spanish priest who died of ebola, became infected with the virus. This has prompted monitoring and ebola fears. More than fifty people are being monitored by experts and Spanish health authorities are investigating how the nursing assistant became infected as the first case of Ebola transmitted outside of West Africa and prompting mass hysteria in the country where even her dog was euthanized for fear of spreading the disease.