Man tested for Ebola in UK

A man has been tested for Ebola in Birmingham and another has visited a UK hospital over fears he was showing symptoms of the deadly Ebola virus.

The checks come after the Government’s chief scientist warned that deadly diseases such as Ebola are a “potentially major threat” to Britain following the death of an American man who was able to travel through an international hub.

A man, who had travelled from Benin in Nigeria via Paris to the Midlands was taken to hospital in Birmingham on Monday after he said he felt feverish.

He was given the all clear, as was a second man in his twenties who went to Charing Cross Hospital in London this week, the Sun reported. His symptoms were confirmed as not being linked to the bug and doctors ruled out the need for an Ebola test.

The Department for Health confirmed the Birmingham incident. A spokesman added: “We’re well prepared to identifyand deal with any potential cases, though there has never been a case in this country.”

The disease, which can be fatal for up to 90 per cent of infected victims, has already killed almost 700 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Doctors in Britain have been put on alert to watch out for signs of the disease as officials said the disease was “clearly not under control.”

However Professor Jeremy Farrar said we are “not in grave danger of a global epidemic.”

“What we are in danger of is this spreading much further across Africa,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“I don’t think closing borders and restricting travel will have much of an impact.”

Prof Farrar said he would not avoid travelling to the infected countries in Africa but said he felt there needed to be more education about the disease so people in these countries had the confidence to come forward if they had symptoms.

“I hope that at some point in the future we will have vaccines and drugs but these will not be available in the very near future.

“In the short term it will be about infection control.”

Sir Mark Walport, the government’s Chief Scientific Advisor, has told the Telegraph that the increasingly ‘interconnected’ world was placing Britons at risk.

Sheik Umar Jhan, the doctor leading Sierra Leone’s fight against the virus died of Ebola on Tuesday.

Doctors in Britain have been put on alert to watch out for signs of the disease as officials said the disease was “clearly not under control.”

However Professor Jeremy Farrar said we are “not in grave danger of a global epidemic.”

“What we are in danger of is this spreading much further across Africa,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“I don’t think closing borders and restricting travel will have much of an impact.”

Prof Farrar said he would not avoid travelling to the infected countries in Africa but said he felt there needed to be more education about the disease so people in these countries had the confidence to come forward if they had symptoms.

“I hope that at some point in the future we will have vaccines and drugs but these will not be available in the very near future.

“In the short term it will be about infection control.”

Sir Mark Walport, the government’s Chief Scientific Advisor, has told the Telegraph that the increasingly ‘interconnected’ world was placing Britons at risk.

Sheik Umar Jhan, the doctor leading Sierra Leone’s fight against the virus died of Ebola on Tuesday.

Two American health workers – a doctor and a missionary – are also in hospital in neighbouring Liberia after contracting the disease, prompting two US missionary groups to evacuate non-essential personnel from the country.