Ebola-again?

During the Sierra Leone ebola epidemic, I think anyone arriving at Heathrow from Sierra Leone was subject to medical and temperature checks.

Ah! Because it would need medically trained people on each plane and it is not simply a matter of taking temperatures. It’s not that simple.

If there was a definitive test that could be carried out quickly and accurately then fine, but there isn’t.

In the email above you said

Close checks on passengers?

‘Can I take your temperature Madam?’

I deduced, obviously wrongly, that you were dismissing the idea. So my response was 'why not?

Why not what Monica ?

Africans die of dreadful tropical viruses and poor nutrition.
The rich western world die of diabetes because they eat too much.
Something is very wrong with our world.

OldMeg and why not?

No effective vaccine this is “7,500 doses of an experimental vaccine against Ebola’ experimental and there’s only 7,500 doses.

Close checks on passengers?

‘Can I take your temperature Madam?’

MawBroon me too! I can’t believe the naivety of some people.

I would imagine that British Airports are making close checks on passengers flying in from that area of Africa. There is now an innoculation but to what extent it can be made in the millions of doses needed for an epidemic in the PRC, I do not know, but there are likely to be enough stocks in the UK to contain any cases that get through in to this country.

There were almost 90,000 deaths from measles in 2016 and we do have a vaccine for that.

We only worry about killer diseases when we think they might get to us.

I suppose that’s natural if a bit sad.

I am sure this will turn out to be nothing more than media hype again. Remember the bird flu saga? How we were all going to die from it and people cancelled their flights for fear of breathing it in in a confined space - and it isn't even an airborne disease! The media didn't print that bit though - can't imagine why hmm
As has already been said, good hygiene protects us from a lot of things
That was in July 2014.

This is the sort of complacent response I remember reading 4 years ago.
I think we need to learn and act on the experience of the past.
It seems to me that one important factor is how relatively easy it is to travel from what used to be remote areas in (dare I say “darkest”?) Africa.
And God help any refugees and indeed the world if the disease were to spread to those poor souls seeking refuge in their tiny boats.

Complacency is the last thing we or any other nation needs.

This is already extremely serious costing thousands of lives and causing such great distress.
We should not just sit back and think it won`t happen to our loved ones,whilst we need to help these other Nations win their fight we also need to guard this country.
With widespread travel the norm we are all in danger.
I think we need advice and precautionary methods firmly in place BEFORE it arrives yet again on our shores.

I believed too there was an effective vaccine ...........so let us know all about it,whilst making sure our public are made very aware of the best measures to take.........beyond the sensible ones we are probably already taking.

This is serious and as such we need to fully know what we can each do to halt E Bola spreading further.

I believe there is an effective vaccine that has been developed to fight ebola. Hey, I found the article, here it is

I think that it is likely that unless ebola approaches epidemic proportions in First World countries, most pharmaceutical companies will not spend time – and more importantly in their eyes, money – researching vaccines or cures. Certainly not the big American companies.

Were it not (damned predictive text)

Yes, we should be worried. Complacency is the danger here and the lack of a rigorous response by the World Health Organisation (an oxymoron if ever I heard one) last time is hardly reassuring. The chances of a pandemic are underestimated.

We’re it not for certain charities who got their act together last time it could have been so much worse.

I’m wondering what research cams out of the last outbreak, I’d like to think there was a vaccine developed, but doubt it.