Ebola Scare: UK Immigration Staff Jitters, US Prepares Isolation Units

A lack of information and guidance on how to identify and deal with suspected cases has the UK Immigration Service staff jittery.

While the Border Force said the staff has been educated on this, Immigration Service Union general secretary Lucy Moreton said its members are concerned and sought more information.

"They serve on the front line; they are the first point of contact usually for people coming off an aircraft and the concern is what do they do if they're confronted with someone that doesn't appear well who appears at the border," she told BBC News.

She voiced concern that there was no health facility at the border, nor a containment facility.

A Border Force spokesperson insisted that the force has well-established procedures for dealing with infectious diseases. Employees have been advised to refer suspected cases of infection to a specialist medical care provider, by ambulance if necessary.

The guidance also includes instructions to report the case to Public Health England.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Thursday that it was not recommending any travel restrictions or border closures after consulting the World Health Organisation, according to Reuters.

Foreign secretary Philip Hammond said the government was taking the current outbreak and the threat to the UK "very seriously". The UK's health services had the experience to deal with the threat posed by the deadly virus, he said.

US Gets Ready
Meanwhile, US State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf has announced the government was helping to organise any needed evacuations for its citizens directly affected by the Ebola outbreak.

Working with the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, "...every precaution will be taken to move the patients safely and securely to provide critical care en route and to maintain strict isolation upon arrival in the United States," she added.

Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, US is preparing a special isolation unit to receive a patient with Ebola disease "within the next several days". Not specifying when or who this would be, the hospital said the specially built isolation unit is physically separate from other areas and has unique equipment and infrastructure to provide high level of isolation.

The disease is not very contagious, but it can spread via bodily fluids and healthcare workers are at special risk. They must wear layers of protective equipment including boots, gloves, a full body suit and face and eye protection.

Despite such protective gear, two American health workers have been infected.

"It's almost impossible to project the spread of the disease, in the weeks and months ahead," said Anthony Fauci, executive director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Governments must restrict movement, get people into hospitals with proper hygiene practices and set up field hospitals where necessary, he said.

The virus has an incubation period of a few days to three weeks. If an infected person travels during this time, there are chances of the virus spreading beyond borders.

Ebola can deceptively look like flu at first, causing fever along with head and muscle aches. In later stages it can progress into diarrhoea, vomiting, bleeding, ultimately leading to organ failure.

Unlike most pathogens, which cannot survive long on a corpse, Ebola remains infectious after a person dies — for how long remains unknown. WHO notes that men who have survived the disease can still transmit the virus through their semen for up to seven weeks after recovery.