Author
BBC News Report
Release Date
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
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People arriving in the UK from areas hit by Ebola face "enhanced screening" for
the virus at Heathrow, Gatwick and Eurostar terminals.
Downing Street said passengers would be asked questions and potentially given
a medical assessment.
It comes as Whitehall sources say it is "very unlikely" a British man who died
in Macedonia on Thursday could have contracted the disease.
The UK Foreign Office had said it was urgently investigating the reports.
The unnamed man, who Macedonian authorities said was 57, was admitted to hospital
at 15:00 local time (14:00 BST) and died two hours later, the country's health
ministry said.
He had been vomiting, had a fever and was bleeding internally.
There were "high chances" it was not an Ebola case, the the ministry added.
But in a statement it said officials had followed World Health Organization procedure
in closing the hotel where the man was staying and placing the residents in quarantine.
A Macedonian government spokesman said the man's travelling companion - also British
and aged 72 according to authorities - said they had travelled directly from the
UK to Skopje and had not been to any affected areas. He is under observation in
hospital, as is the ambulance crew who treated the dead man.
Dr Brian McCloskey, from Public Health England, said he was aware of the reports
but added: "We understand Ebola to be unlikely as the cause of death but will continue
to work with partners to investigate."
The outbreak has already killed more than 3,000 people and infected more than
7,200 - mostly in West Africa.
People leaving areas affected by the outbreak have been subject to checks for
some weeks, although people do not become infectious until they display symptoms.
Earlier this week a Spanish nurse became the first person to contract the deadly
virus outside of West Africa.
Ministers had ruled out introducing screening at UK airports, pointing out that
government policy was in line with advice from the World Health Organization.
A statement on the Department of Health's website also said: "Entry screening
in the UK is not recommended by the World Health Organization, and there are no
plans to introduce entry screening for Ebola in the UK."
But in a statement, Number 10 said advice from the chief medical officer was that
checks on arrivals would "offer an additional level of protection to the UK".
The new checks - for those arriving from Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea - will
involve "assessing passengers' recent travel history, who they have been in contact
with and onward travel arrangements", Downing Street said.
Passengers could also be subject to medical checks "by trained medical personnel
rather than Border Force staff" and will be given advice on "what to do should
they develop symptoms later".
The move was criticised by Conservative MP Rory Stewart, who told Channel 4 News:
"It doesn't make sense to only screen limited places."
