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The European Union needs to redouble efforts to combat the “unprecedented” Ebola epidemic through improved entry screening, health commissioner Tonio Borg has urged.
The EU is to also examine whether exit screening at West African airports is effective.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control believes that exit and entry screening would have limited effectiveness and would not detect all the possible people infected with the virus.
But Borg told a high level Ebola coordination meeting yesterday that “every person with the virus we detect through screening is one life saved; potentially many lives saved.
“Every person we can treat and cure because we could detect this person through entry screening justifies considering entry screening”.
He added: “I therefore see added value in entry screening: in terms of providing information to travellers, providing information to the crew, reassuring our citizens; and possibly identifying infected passengers.”
Borg admitted that it was up to individual governments in Europe to decide which measures to apply to guard against the virus.
But he said: “I would like to stress that the European Commission is fully committed to helping the affected countries in every way we can; and to supporting international efforts aimed at bringing the Ebola epidemic to an end as soon as possible.
“This epidemic is unprecedented in scale and is estimated to get worse before it gets better. The numbers of people who contract the virus are currently doubling every three to four weeks.
“Ebola is a cause of massive suffering to tens of thousands of people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.”
Measures should be reinforced to ensure that travellers entering Europe from the affected countries have appropriate information on the virus and on what to do should they develop symptoms of the disease.
This could be complemented by enhanced information for crew, airport staff and front line healthcare providers.
“However, some countries are clearly still considering how best to proceed. Furthermore, the situation continues to evolve,” said Borg. “My hope for this meeting is that we can agree to exchange information and co-ordinate national measures.”
His comments follow the US introducing additional screening measures at five international airports for travellers arriving from the affected countries and screening for the virus extended at Heathrow.
And an Air France passenger with a high fever, reportedly from Nigeria, is reportedly to be examined in hospital for Ebola symptoms after arriving in Madrid from Paris.
Meanwhile, Jamaica said it would not accept travellers from Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone for the time being. Guyana, St Lucia, Haiti and Colombia also introduced a ban.