MOSCOW, October 13 (RIA Novosti) - The United Kingdom should prepare for the Ebola outbreak to worsen, the country's Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt told BBC Radio Monday.
“It is a question of being prepared; at present the number of [global] cases is doubling every three to four weeks. At present the numbers are very low, but we have to be prepared for it getting a lot worse,” Hunt said.
He also noted the importance of screening for Ebola at the country's airports as the procedure helps to identify those at higher risk. "Because the virus incubates for 21 days we need to make sure that anyone that is higher risk – we know their contact details, we are able to stay in touch with them, monitor their temperature on a daily basis so that if they do develop the symptoms we can get to them quickly."
Last week, UK introduced the screening of passengers arriving at Heathrow, Gatwick and the Eurostar terminal, checking for symptoms and questioning the passengers from the three hardest-hit countries - Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
The Ebola epidemic in West Africa broke out in southern Guinea in February, and later spread across Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Senegal. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 4,000 people have died from the virus in the current outbreak.
There is currently no officially approved cure for Ebola, however, several nations, including Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan are working on a vaccine.
