LONDON: Health secretary Jeremy Hunt announced on Monday that passengers from at-risk countries will have their temperature taken, complete a risk questionnaire and have contact details recorded.
Screening at Gatwick and Eurostar terminals would start in the coming week.
Hunt said he anticipated the expected figures of those getting infected with the virus in UK to be below double figures for the next three months.
As of today, there have been 4,033 confirmed deaths and 8,399 confirmed, probable and suspected cases of Ebola recorded in seven countries, although widespread transmission is confined to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. This number is doubling every three to four weeks. The UN has declared the outbreak an international public health emergency.
Hunt told the parliament "This government's first priority is the safety of the British people and playing our part in halting the rise of the disease in West Africa is by far the most effective way of preventing Ebola infecting people in the UK. The Chief Medical Officer, who takes advice from Public Health England and the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, has this morning confirmed that it is likely we will see a case of Ebola in the UK, and this could be a handful of cases over the next three months. She confirms that the public health risk in the UK remains low and measures currently in place - including exit screening in all 3 affected countries - offer the correct level of protection".
"However, while the response to global health emergencies should always be proportionate, she also advises the government to make preparations for a possible increase in the risk level. So in the next week, Public Health England will start screening UK-bound air passengers, identified by the Border Force, coming on the main routes from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. This will allow potential cases arriving in the UK to be identified quickly and receive access to expert health advice".
"These measures will start tomorrow at Heathrow, which receives around 85% of all such arrivals, beginning with Terminal 1. They will be expanded by the end of next week to arrivals into Gatwick and on the Eurostar which connects to Paris and Brussels-bound arrivals. If neither the questionnaire nor the temperature reading raises any concerns, passengers will be told how to make contact with the NHS should they develop Ebola symptoms within the 21 day incubation period, and allowed to continue on their journey. It is important to stress that a person with Ebola is only infectious if they are displaying symptoms".
"Any passenger who reports recent exposure to people who may have Ebola, or symptoms, or who has a raised temperature will undergo a clinical assessment and, if necessary, will be transferred to hospital. Passengers identified as having any level of increased risk of Ebola, but without any symptoms, will be given a PHE contact number to call should they develop any symptoms consistent with Ebola within the 21 day incubation period. Higher risk individuals will be contacted on a daily basis by Public Health England. Should they develop symptoms, they will have the reassurance of knowing this system will get them first class medical care".
We expect these measures to reach 89% of travellers we know have come to the UK from the affected region on tickets booked for the UK.
"But it is important to note that no screening procedure will be able to identify 100% of the people arriving from Ebola-affected countries, not least because not all passengers leaving the countries will immediately take connecting routes to the UK," he added.
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