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Passengers 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 following a government U-turn on screening for the deadly virus.
Blood tests for Ebola will be carried out at the two London airports and the Eurostar terminal in the capital if travellers arrive from Sierra Leone, Guinea or Liberia.
All direct flights to the affected West African countries are currently suspended so passengers entering the UK have to travel via Brussels or Paris – Eurostar’s two main destinations.
However, a twice-weekly Gambia Bird service between Gatwick and the Sierra Leone capital of Freetown is due to resume on October 17.
Under the “enhanced screening” plans, border agents will use flight records to identify passengers arriving from the three west African countries, even if they arrived via a connecting airport. Travellers with symptoms or who have been in contact with Ebola victims face immediate quarantine.
People with Ebola show no symptoms for up to three weeks after infection, meaning they would not be picked up by screening checks until they had become unwell, The Times reported.
The chairman of Public Health England, Professor David Heymann, told the BBC that similar attempts to combat the life-threatening Sars virus in 2003 had been ineffective.
“Very few people were actually found who were infected,” he said. “In fact, there’s no record of anybody in most countries having been shown to be infected with Sars when they crossed the border.”
Yesterday’s sudden change in policy came as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office confirmed that it was “unlikely” that a British man who died in Macedonia on Thursday could have contracted the disease.
“The Macedonian health authorities reported on 9 October that a person with Ebola-like symptoms had died in a Skopje hospital. They are conducting tests to establish the cause of death. However, we understand Ebola to be unlikely as the cause,” the FCO said.
Meanwhile, a passenger’s alleged joke about having Ebola lead a US Airways flight from Philidelphia to the Dominican Republic to be held in isolation on the tarmac after it landed in Punta Cana.
The aircraft was boarded by specialist medical staff in full protective clothing who appeared to search the plane to ascertain the threat.
The man then admitted he was “only joking” and was escorted off the aircraft.
The airline apologised for the inconvenience caused but said it had to follow guidelines due to the severity of the current threat.
The airline told ABC: “US Airways flight 845 from Philadelphia to Punta Cana was met yesterday by local officials upon landing due to a possible health issue on board.
“We are following the direction of, and strictly adhering to, all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines in place for airlines in response to the Ebola virus.
“The flight was checked by officials and cleared. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused but the safety of our customers and employees is our first priority.”